Dystopia

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A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,^[1] kakotopia or anti-utopia) is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. It is usually characterized by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government.

Some academic circles distinguish between anti-utopia and dystopia. A dystopia does not pretend to be good, while an anti-utopia appears to be utopian or was intended to be so, but a fatal flaw or other factor has destroyed or twisted the intended utopian world or concept, as is evidenced with Ingsoc in George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.^[2]

Contents 1 Origin of the word 2 Common traits of a dystopian society 2.1 Societal 2.2 Political 2.3 Economic 2.4 Religious 3 Characteristics of dystopian fiction 3.1 The Back story 3.2 The Hero 3.3 The Conflict 3.4 Climax and dénouement 3.5 Resonance 4 Criticism of the concept of dystopias 5 Depictions of dystopias in various media 6 See also 7 References

[edit] Origin of the word

The first known use of the term dystopia appeared in a parliamentary speech by John Stuart Mill^[3] in 1868. His knowledge of Greek suggests that he was referring to a bad place, rather than simply the opposite of Utopia. The Greek prefix "dys" ("δυσ-") prefix signifies "ill", "bad" or "abnormal"; Greek "topos" ("τόπος") meaning "place"; and Greek "ou-" ("ου") meaning "not". Thus, Utopia means "nowhere", and is a pun on "Eutopia" meaning "happy place" - the prefix "eu" means "well".

[edit] Common traits of a dystopian society

Dystopian traits exist to provide a framework of how a fictional world relates to that of the actual world. Many traits of dystopias can be classified or categorized in a particular vein of society (at least during the time a particular text was written). Many dystopias exhibit, in some form, a societal, political, economical or religious trait that can be held as “common” in relation to other texts of dystopian fiction to provide a reader a basis for comparison.

[edit] Societal

The dystopian society, found in fictional and artistic works, can be described as a utopian society with at least one fatal flaw.^[4] Whereas a utopian society is founded on perfectionism and fullfilment, a dystopian society’s dreams of improvement are overshadowed by stimulating fears of the “ugly consequences of present-day behavior”.^[5] It is a culture where the condition of life is “extremely bad,” as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.^[6] Such societal structures encompass obstacles within class systems, sexuality, and the constitution of family.

The social stratification among dystopian societies contains restrictions; where social class is strictly defined and enforced, and social mobility is non-existent (see caste system). For example, the novel, Brave New World’s class system is prenatally designated in terms of Alphas, Betas, Gammas, Deltas, and Epsilons; with no ability for class advancement. Strict conformity among citizens is also prevalent in dystopias with a general assumption that dissent and individuality are bad. Looking at the novel We, people are permitted to live out of public view for only an hour a day. They are not only referred to by numbers instead of names, but are neither "citizens" nor "people", but "numbers." There is also the example of a total absence of any social group besides the state – a totalitarianism, again with reference to We – or such social groups being subdivisions of the state, under government control, for example, the Junior Anti-Sex League in 1984.

Promiscuous sexuality and lack of ideals of romantic love can be seen through dystopian cultures, as in Brave New World where Lenina Crowne confesses to having sexual intercourse with only one man and is encouraged by her friend to be more promiscuous. And in We, where "numbers" (people) are allowed sexual intercourse with any other number by registering for access. Alternatively, antisexualism is also prevalent as a way of social control (the Junior Anti-Sex League in 1984). Dystopias also contain current/past trends of obscurity, as in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, where women are ruled by a repressive American religious regime, that would eventually collapse from its hostility towards women.

Family life is portrayed as conflicting and nonexistent, to the point of deliberately engineered break-down of family ties, as in 1984, where children are organized to spy on their parents. Also, Brave New World’s examples of children reproduced artificially, where the concept of a "mother" or "father" is obscene. The constitution of relationships is often compromised, including instances of banishment of the natural world from daily life, as when walks are regarded as dangerously anti-social in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. In general, dystopias are seen as visions of “dangerous and alienating future societies,” often criticizing current trends in the culture.^[7]

[edit] Political

Dystopian politics are often characterized as one or several types of governments and political systems. These systems include, but are not limited to, fascism, bureaucracy, socialism, chaos, anarchy, totalitarianism, dictatorships and other forms of political, social and economical control.^[8][9]

Utopian politics are often considered as idealistic in practice towards the society in which they are dictated and enacted.^[10] Dystopian politics, however, are considered flawed in some way or have negative connotations amongst the inhabitants of the dystopian “world”. Dystopian politics are often considered oppressive while the Utopian politics are perfect.

Dystopias are often filled with pessimistic views of the ruling class or government that is brutal or uncaring ruling with an “iron hand” or “iron fist.” These dystopian government establishments often have protagonists or groups that lead a “resistance” to enact change within their government.^[11]

Examples of dystopian politics in literary fiction can be read in Parable of the Sower, 1984, and V for Vendetta. Dystopian politics are portrayed in films such as The Island, Fahrenheit 451, Brazil and THX 1138.

[edit] Economic

The economic structures of dystopian societies in literature and other media have many variations. However, there are several archetypes that such societies tend to follow.

A commonly occurring theme is that of extensive privatization. In this context, big businesses often have far more control over the populace than any kind of government. This can be seen clearly seen in the genre of cyberpunk, which often features these all-powerful corporations and the corruption that occurs within and because of them, often in the form of megacorps. These businesses often work together to form cartels, despite at times feigning rivalries.

This concept is the main theme of literature such as Blade Runner and Snow Crash, and also of the 1993 computer game Syndicate. There are usually many "small dictators" - essentially competing corporations and robber barons instead of one leader, with either a single police force that makes sure the system runs smoothly, or many small police forces hired by each corporation. Individuals with no wealth or social power are suppressed and miserable.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are dystopian tales where the state is in control of the economy, as shown in such works as Ayn Rand's Anthem and Henry Kuttner's short story, The Iron Standard. In these tales, there is a deficiency of private ownership, the only "private" sales coming from black markets. Such systems usually have a lack of efficiency, as seen in stories like Philip Jose Farmer's Riders of the Purple Wage, featuring an overextended welfare system that effectively eliminates the need for the people to do anything.

[edit] Religious

A common theme in dystopian works is a critique of religion, or the practice thereof. An idea that commonly comes under fire by dystopian writers is that of blind faith, or people participating in a religion without fully (or even partially) understanding it. Also, in many cases a particular religion is enforced by the state through various methods.

One of the most common ways for this to occur is by having a central figure, usually a head of state or an oligarchy of some sort, become idolized and rabidly worshipped by the populace, indoctrinating the people of the society by creating a personality cult. The actual figure is often shrouded in mystery or may not even exist, as is the case with 1984's Big Brother.

In other cases, instead of worshipping a person, the teachings themselves are fanatically adhered to, by clergy and government as well as laity, as seen in Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Religion, in a dystopian context, is generally used as a tool of oppression. There is a lot of speculation about whether Dystopia would have one religion or many religions^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] Characteristics of dystopian fiction

Dystopia is generally considered a subgenre of science fiction.

[edit] The Back story

Because a fictional universe has to be constructed, a selectively-told back story of a war, revolution, uprising, critical overpopulation, or other disaster is often introduced early in the narrative. This results in a shift in emphasis of control, from the good old days to corporations, totalitarian dictatorships or bureaucracies.

Because dystopian literature typically depicts events that take place in the future, it often features technology more advanced than that of contemporary society. Usually, the advanced technology is controlled exclusively by the group in power, while the oppressed population is limited to technology comparable to or more primitive than what we have today.

In order to emphasize the degeneration of society, the standard of living among the lower and middle class that is generally poorer than in contemporary society. This is not always the case, however — in Brave New World and Equilibrium, people enjoy much higher material living standards in exchange for the loss of other qualities in their lives, such as independent thought and emotional depth.

[edit] The Hero

The story usually centers on a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intuitively that something is terribly wrong, such as Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, or V from Alan Moore's V for Vendetta.

Unlike utopian fiction, which often features an outsider to have the world shown him, dystopias seldom feature an outsider as the protagonist. While such a character would more clearly understand the nature of the society, based on comparison with his own, the knowledge of the outside culture subverts the power of the dystopia. When such outsiders are major characters -- such as John the Savage in Brave New World, their societies are not such as can assist them against the dystopia.

[edit] The Conflict

The hero comes to the realization that escape or even overturning the social order is possible and decides to act at the risk of life and limb.

There is usually a group of people somewhere in the society who are not under the complete control of the state, and in whom the hero of the novel usually puts his or her hope, although he or she still fails to change anything. In Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four they are the "proles" (short for "proletariat"), in Huxley's Brave New World they are the people on the reservation, and in We by Zamyatin they are the people outside the walls of the One State. In Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury, they are the "book people" past the river and outside the city.

[edit] Climax and dénouement

The hero's goal is either escape or destruction of the social order. However, the story is often (but not always) unresolved. That is, the narrative may deal with individuals in a dystopian society who are unsatisfied, and may rebel, but ultimately fail to change anything. Sometimes they themselves end up changed to conform to the society's norms. This narrative arc to a sense of hopelessness can be found in such classic dystopian works as Nineteen Eighty-Four. It contrasts with much fiction of the future, in which a hero succeeds in resolving conflicts or otherwise changing things for the better.

The destruction of dystopia is frequently a very different sort of work than one in which it is preserved. Poul Anderson's short story "Sam Hall" depicts the subversion of a dystopia heavily dependent on surveillance. Robert A. Heinlein's "If This Goes On—" liberates the United States from a fundamentalist theocracy, where the underground rebellion is organized by the Freemasons. Cordwainer Smith's The Rediscovery of Man series depicts a society recovering from its dystopian period, beginning in "The Dead Lady of Clown Town" with the discovery that its utopia was impossible to maintain. Although these and other societies are typical of dystopias in many ways, they all have not only flaws but exploitable flaws. The ability of the protagonists to subvert the society also subverts the monolithic power typical of a dystopia.

If destruction is not possible, escape may be, if the dystopia does not control the world. In Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the main character succeeds in fleeing and finding tramps who have dedicated themselves to memorizing books to preserve them. In the book Logan's Run, the main characters make their way to an escape from the otherwise inevitable euthanasia on their 21st birthday (30th in the later film version). Because such dystopias must necessarily control less of the world than the protagonist can reach, and the protagonist can elude capture, this motif also subverts the dystopia's power. In Lois Lowry's The Giver the main character Jonas is able to run away from 'The Community' and escapes to 'Elsewhere' where people have memories.

Sometimes, this escape leads to the inevitable: The protagonist making a mistake that usually brings about the end of a rebel society, usually living where people think is a story. This concept is brought to life in Scott Westerfeld's novel Uglies. The main character accidentally brings the government into the secret settlement of the Smoke. She then infiltrates the government to escape, but chooses to join the society for the greater good.

Occasionally, the escape from dystopia is made possible by time travel and changing history. Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, though chiefly concerned with the protagonist's time-travel to a future utopia, also has her travel to a dystopia, and in the current time, stymies the efforts that will lead to that future. Poul Anderson's The Corridors of Time has a protagonist recruited by one future society to fight another, dystopian one; learning that both societies are dystopian (in very different ways), he acts to prevent either one gaining the upper hand in their time-traveling wars, enabling the future emergence of a utopian state. In its time, such a dystopia can be quite as powerful as any other. However, the time travel necessarily moves portions of the story, and usually quite large portions, out of the time of the dystopia, making it less an overwhelming presence in the novel. Finally, the film La Jetée (and, to a lesser degree, the La Jetée-inspired 12 Monkeys) involves the protagonist's travel through time both into the future and the (as of 1962) present-day, in the hope of saving his dystopic present.

[edit] Resonance

For the reader to engage with it, dystopian fiction typically has one other trait: familiarity. It is not enough to show people living in a society that seems unpleasant. The society must have echoes of today, of the reader's own experience. If the reader can identify the patterns or trends that would lead to the dystopia, it becomes a more involving and effective experience. Authors can use a dystopia effectively to highlight their own concerns about societal trends. For example, Ayn Rand wrote Anthem as a warning against what she saw as the subordination of individual human beings to the state or "the We." Margaret Atwood wrote The Handmaid's Tale as a warning against the rise of what she saw as religious fundamentalism in the United States and the hypocrisy of 1970s feminism actually aiding the cause of their worst enemies.

[edit] Criticism of the concept of dystopias

Just as some modern philosophers, political theorists, and writers have dismissed ideas of perfect societies or "utopias", many have also expressed skepticism regarding the likelihood of a real-life dystopia of the kind described by Orwell and others. Although there have been many absolutist states in human history, Gregg Easterbrook has argued that such societies tend to rapidly self-destruct or be destroyed by neighbors. Dictatorships and similar regimes tend to be short-lived, as their policies and actions are almost continually leading to the creation of new potential opponents. For example, the killing or "disappearance" of critics and activists only serves to anger their family or friends, who in turn continue the struggle against the regime.

Other commentators would say that such a criticism misses the point. For example, Sam Lundwall^[12] wrote that dystopian fiction "should be read with a pinch of salt," but that it is "as a means of powerful social criticism, unsurpassed."

[edit] Depictions of dystopias in various media

Dystopias are a common theme in many kinds of fiction. The lists linked below contain extensive lists of works with dystopian themes.

• List of dystopian comics
• List of dystopian literature
• List of dystopian films
• List of dystopian music, TV programs, and games

[edit] See also

• Utopia
• Utopian and dystopian fiction
• Social science fiction
• Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction
• Soft science fiction
• Fable
• Cyberpunk

[edit] References

1. ^ Cacotopia (κακό, caco = bad) was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 19th century works ([1], [2], [3])
2. ^ Random House's Word of the Day clarifies the technical differences between dystopia and anti-utopia. [4]
3. ^ Exploring Dystopia, last accessed on 19th March 2006, see also [5]
4. ^ Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature. Mary Ellen Snodgrass. p. xii
5. ^ science fiction. (2007). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 1, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-235726
6. ^ dystopia. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved January 27, 2007, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/dystopia
7. ^ City Life - Future Cities: Utopia or Dystopia. (2007). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved January 30, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/oscar/article-234546
8. ^ Moylan, Tom. “ ‘Look into the Dark’: On Dystopia and the Novum”. Learning from New Worlds. Ed. Patrick Parrinder, Durham:Duke University Press, 2001
9. ^ Kaplan, Carter. “The Advent of Literary Dystopia.” Extrapolation. 40.3 (1999): 200 – 212
10. ^ "Utopia." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 11 Feb. 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Utopia>
11. ^ Donawerth, Jane. “Genre Blending and the Critical Dystopia.” Dark Horizons : Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. Ed. Raffaella Baccolini, Tom Moylan. New York:Routledge, 2003
12. ^ Sam J. Lundwall, Science Fiction: What It's All About, New York: Ace Books, © 1971