The Palgrave Handbook of Utopian and Dystopian Literatures

Description

The Palgrave Handbook of Utopian and Dystopian Literatures celebrates a literary genre already over 500 years old. Specially commissioned essays from established and emerging international scholars reflect the vibrancy of utopian vision, and its resiliency as idea, genre, and critical mode. Covering politics, environment, geography, body and mind, and social organization, the volume surveys current research and maps new areas of study. The chapters include investigations of anarchism, biopolitics, and postcolonialism and study film, art, and literature. Each essay considers central questions and key primary works, evaluates the most recent research, and outlines contemporary debates. Literatures of Africa, Australia, China, Latin America, and the Middle East are discussed in this global, cross-disciplinary, and comprehensive volume. Acknowledgements Contents Editors and Contributors About the Editors Contributors Introduction Introduction The First 500 Years of Utopian and Dystopian Literature The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries The Eighteenth Century The Nineteenth Century The Twentieth Century The Next 500 Years of Utopian and Dystopian Literature References Concepts Utopia Introduction: Utopian Twists and Turns Exit Homo Sapiens: Utopia Without Us Ustopian Extinction: Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam Trilogy Utopia in the Anthropocene Conclusion: Utopia in the Anthropocene References Anti-utopia Introduction Finding the Boundaries Conclusion References Dystopia Introduction The Development of a Tradition Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932) George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) Dystopia After Orwell Controversies and Debates References Critical Dystopia Introduction: The Rise of the Critical Dystopia Expanding Dystopia: Revisiting the Genre in its Critical Turn Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale as a Critical Dystopia (Re)Deploying the Concept: From Genre to Mode Conclusion: The Critical Dystopia Meets Intersectionality, Decoloniality, and the Anthropocene References Historical Contexts Prefigurations Introduction Greek Descriptions of Model States The Hellenistic Descriptions of Ideal Political Regimes Euhemerus’ Sacred History From the Terrestrial City to the Celestial One Conclusion References The Renaissance Introduction Utopias After Utopia Conclusion References The Eighteenth Century Introduction Utopian Themes Within Eighteenth-Century Philosophical Writing Utopian Speculation in Eighteenth-Century Novels, Satires, and Philosophical Romances Fictions of Uninhabited Islands and Other Utopian Spaces Conclusion References The Early Nineteenth Century (1800–1850) Introduction Contemporary Critical and Theoretical Debates Readings of Specific Texts Conclusion References The Late Nineteenth Century (1848–1899) Introduction References The Twentieth Century Introduction Biological Determinism Embodiment, the Body Politic, and Mass Political Movements The Rise of Totalitarianism The Great Upheaval Utopia, Colonialism, and Decolonization Critical Utopias, Ecology, and Postmodernism The Post-Cold War Years References The Twenty-First Century Introduction Utopia or Nothing Digital Utopia Chastened Utopia Conclusion References Aesthetic Forms and Genres Narrative Introduction Cognitive Mapping Anticipatory Dynamics Jeanette Winterson’s The Stone Gods References Science Fiction Introduction Swiss Cheese Utopias: Subterranean Worlds Euchronias: The Next Historical Stage of Industrial Development Red Planet, Red Flag: Martian Utopias The Limitations of the Literary Utopia A World of Women: Feminist Separatist Utopias Apocalyptic and Anti-Capitalist Science Fiction Ecological Utopias for the Anthropocene Conclusion References Young Adult (YA) Fiction Introduction From Childhood to Adolescence Rebellion Young Adult Dystopias, Race, and Queer Sexuality Conclusion References Apocalyptic Visions Introduction Narrative Functions Contemporary Debates Narrative Labors and Narrative Mattering Conclusion References Utopian Realism I  II References Cinema Introduction Utopian Films Dystopian Films Conclusion References Comics, Manga and Graphic Novels Introduction: The Utopian and the Graphic Franco-Belgian Bande Dessinée: Technological Optimism, Satire, and Dystopian SF The Post-Apocalyptic Imagination of Manga and Anime Superhero Worldbuilding and Graphic Novel Dystopias Graphic Meta-Utopias Conclusion References Gaming Introduction Games in Utopia Utopia in Games Utopian Gaming Communities Conclusion References Deaftopias Introduction Deaftopia in the United States Deaftopia in the United Kingdom Short Stories in the United States Conclusion References Micronations and Hyperutopias Introduction Micronations Hyperutopias Conclusion References Political Theories and Practices Humanism Introduction Pico Della Mirandola and Erasmus of Rotterdam Utopia Humanism: A Concept in Transition Humanism and Utopia: Modern Trends Conclusion References Eugenics Introduction Eugenics and Utopia Eugenic Utopias Utopias with Modified Eugenic Practice Eugenics, Enhancement, and the Posthuman Conclusion References Marxism Introduction The Classical Matrix Under the Shadow of the Commune Crisis and Beyond: The Twentieth Century Conclusion References Anarchism Introduction Anarchism Anarchism and Utopianism Anarchist Utopianism and the Political Uses and Abuses of Utopia Conclusion References Labor Introduction Contemporary Critical Theory and Debates Specific Texts References Race Introduction Literature Racial Eutopias Lost-Race Utopias Racial Dystopias and Utopian Satires Racial Invasion/Takeover Racial Separatism Past/Present as Dystopia Anti-Immigration Racist Utopias Colonial/Postcolonial Utopias17 Scholarship References Biopolitics Introduction From Space and Place to Body and Practice Utopia and Biopolitics Life, Literature, Utopia Conclusion References War Introduction Thomas More’s Utopia, Militarism, and Just War Fears of Armageddon Fantasies of War Conclusion References Postcolonialism Introduction Varieties of Postcolonial Utopianism African Literature and Remembering the Future Re-writing the Indian Nation Aztlan and the Chicano Nation The Caribbean: Archipelago of Dreams The Pacific Islands: Oceanic Hope Settler Colonies: Creating a New World Conclusion References Human Rights Introduction Human Rights as the Ultimate Utopia Modeling Rights in a Different Ideal Society The Language of Rights in Literary Utopias from Thomas More to the Enlightenment Conclusion References Animal Rights Introduction Animal Rights and Utopia: The Epistemological Break Animal Rights and the Utopian Function Animal Rights and Animal Liberation Conclusion: Animal Rights and the Mindful Utopia of the Present: A Literary Example References Food Introduction Utopias of Abundance From Scarcity to Equality? Individual and Communal Visions: Secular and Sacred Pastoral Nostalgia and Technological Visions Hospitality & Commensality: Food as “Bridge” in Speculative Fiction and Film Memoirs, Non-fiction and Symposia: Past, Present, and Future References Natural and Built Spaces Environment Introduction The “Nowhere” that is Somewhere, Somewhere Green Literally “Nowhere,” and Other Absences Use-Value, Eutopian Limits, and Dystopian Commodification Utopian Ecopoiesis: Regard for the More-Than-Human Co-existence: Dwelling-With and Re-Greening Provisioning in the Anthropocene Conclusion References Space References Architecture Introduction A Match Made in Heaven: Gardens and Architecture Urban Fabrics Woven and Torn Asunder Conclusion References Urbanism Introduction Dystopian Urbanism and Dark Futures New Spaces and New Lives Deaths and After-Lives of Utopian Urbanism Revolutionary Awakenings and Trajectories Possible Urban Worlds Conclusion References Home Introduction Woman-Houses and Utopia At Home Somewhere, and Nowhere Conclusion: Pointing the Way References Oceans Introduction Aquatopia: Accounting for Watery Place Charting Utopian Seas: The Promise and Problem of Waves Utopia Submerged: Transmogrification, Terror, and Radical Possibility Conclusion: Aquatopia Rising? References Moons and Planets Introduction (In)Definiteness Fact, Fiction, and Science From the Flying Man to the Superviator Modern Horizons: Taking Flight A Few Contemporary Examples References Regional Imaginaries Geographical Poetics Introduction Conclusion References Utopia in “Non-Western” Cultures Introduction Recognizing and Designating Utopias from Other Cultures Japanese Imaginaries of the Ideal Francophone Algerian Alternative Worlds Indigenous Australian Post-Apocalyptic Times Conclusion References Africa Introduction Envisioning New Worlds The Political Kingdom Epistemic Utopias Conclusion References South Asia Introduction Rabindranath Tagore Rahul Sankrityayan Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain Salman Rushdie Conclusion References Latin America Introduction Selected Works on Utopia in Latin America2 Reflections on Recent Utopian Manifestations in Latin America References The Pacific and Australasia Introduction Imagining the Pacific Australia New Zealand Conclusion References China Introduction Between East and West: The Problem of Transcendence The Great Harmony (Datong) as a Topos “Peach Blossom Spring” and “New Year’s Dream” Communism as Datong Realistic Expectations: Xiaokang Society Conclusion References Russia and the Soviet Union Introduction Early Soviet Utopias Planning and Marxist Philosophy Anthropological Optimism and the Pedagogic Utopias Conclusion References Lives: Meanings and Endings Psychoanalysis Introduction Utopia and l’objet Petit a Conclusion References Education Introduction Schooling, Virtue and Utopia Schooling, Reproduction and Dystopia Utopian Pedagogy De-Schooling, Anarchism and Prefiguration Conclusion References Religion Introduction Sacred Place: Myth and Utopia Hospitality and Sacredness in Paradigmatic Utopian Texts Conclusion References Hospitality Introduction Hospitality as a Utopia From More to the Mountain References Sexualities Introduction The Rationalization of Sexuality “Mother the Machine”: The Canonization of Maternalism in Feminist Utopias The Queer Body as Utopia Conclusion References Death Introduction Perspectives on Death The Art of Dying in Early Modern Utopias Death and Memory in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Death, Progress, and Eugenics in Nineteenth-Century Utopias Death and Acceptance in Twentieth-Century Utopias Conclusion: Death and the Limit References The Posthuman Introduction Defining the Posthuman Better Humans Through Utopia The Transgenic Posthuman in Octavia Butler and Margaret Atwood Conclusion References Index