Dystopia

About: Dystopia is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2146 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15163 citations. The topic is also known as: cacotopia.

Political sagacity in the fictional world of Yejide Kilanko’s daughters who walk this path / Shamaila Dodhy

Abstract: A literary discourse can recognize history and culture using the canvas of fictive world. For a writer, fiction becomes an ideological screen on which the preceding and contemporaneous issues can be conveniently represented. Contemporary Nigeria is struggling with colonial legacy, identity politics, cultural conflicts and power struggle. This research attempts to examine political thought in Kilanko’s fictional world through an episode of past elections in Nigeria where violence has become a part of political culture since independence. Kilanko depicts corruption, violence, deception, nepotism, on the part of politicians who are enjoying absolute power supported by equally corrupt bureaucratic structure. It gives Kilanko an opportunity to write on the behalf of the suffering nationals who are confronting repressive leadership. By revealing the picture of dystopian Nigerian society, the writer has offered critical assessment of the existing political situation to redirect the actions, beliefs and values observed by her fellow citizens. She has documented historical realities and mysteries which otherwise remain hidden from the descendants.

Examining Humanity in Bernard Beckett’s Genesis: Anaximander, Plato, Classical Philosophy and Gothic in Dystopian Fiction for Young Adults

Abstract: New Zealand author Bernard Beckett’s young adult novel Genesis (2006) blends classical philosophy and Gothic tropes in a dystopian novel about the nature and ends of humanity. It is a curious work, presented in the form of philosophical dialogue and set in a future world known as The Republic, in which robots have triumphed over humanity and formed a new society based on rational order. Yet sinister underpinnings to their society and their emotional origin-story, which forms the core of this novel, show both that their rational world order is built on lies, deception, and murder, and that the human soul is harder to be rid of than they imagine. The clash between robots and humans is depicted as a clash between reason and passion, and also as a clash between a classical calm (seen in the Republic’s emphasis on classical philosophy) and the Gothic emotions associated with the dark, but emotional, side of humanity. Genesis is a compelling reflection on the nature of the human soul, aimed at young readers. This paper will trace how that reflection plays out through Beckett’s use of classical and Gothic ideals in an unusually thought-provoking dystopian work for young readers.

Futures of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract: Twenty-first-century life is increasingly governed by artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as machine learning, big data analysis, facial recognition, and robotics. For decades, an ideology of apocalyptic progress and cosmic transformation has accompanied the advancement of AI in the U.S.; that vision is intimately connected to transhumanism—the idea that humanity can transcend its limits, even mortality, using technology. Based on contributions from science and science fiction, advocates of such Apocalyptic AI suggest that the world will soon see godlike machine intelligence and that human beings will upload their minds into immortal machine bodies. The arrival of this ideology in India raises questions about how global cultures can contribute to AI technology and our beliefs about AI. These beliefs have gained a foothold in Indian visions of AI, but they have not been accepted uncritically; rather, Indian scientists and futurists revise the transhumanist vision and illustrate how traditional Hindu values can add to the global perspective. By describing the arrival and reconfiguration of transhumanist ideas in India, this book reveals how the nexus of religion and technology contributes to public life and our modern self-understanding while suggesting that the apocalyptic approach to AI should be tempered by other visions. By tracing the movement of Apocalyptic AI into India and exploring Indian efforts to redefine those transhumanist aspirations, Futures of Artificial Intelligence opens the door for rethinking our global approach to AI and advocates for technologies and visions of technology that advance human flourishing.

Antonioni’s Anthropocene and Guerra’s enchanting gardens

Abstract: This article explores the seemingly discordant ecologies that animate the ecopoetics of Tonino Guerra’s thinking, arguing that in Guerra’s work we find both a critique of human uses and abuses of the environment – in the era of environmental loss we are currently calling the Anthropocene – and an invitation to creatively reimagine our planetary place. More specifically, it addresses the contrasts between the bereft landscapes in the tetralogy of films Guerra wrote with Michelangelo Antonioni and the intricate, rich gardens of his poetry and of his hometown, Pennabilli. In contrast with (or perhaps in response to) the out-of-control gardens and unpalatable fruits of the films, Guerra’s personal philosophy led him to cultivate poetic and earthly gardens that nourish biodiversity and community and express optimism for a habitable Anthropocene future.

Divergent Fan Forums and Political Consciousness Raising

Abstract: This article conducts a thematic analysis of 40 threads related to sociopolitical issues on two Divergent fan forums, one on Divergent Fans and another on Divergent Wiki, to determine whether these forums raise political consciousness, especially among young people. As scholars of civic imagination show, popular culture narratives may lead to the ability to imagine a better future. Utopian narratives in particular facilitate this process in a dialectical way by presenting us with an impossible world, and dystopian narratives may operate in a similarly dialectical fashion by offering a negative example or warning. Analysis of posts related to utopia and dystopia, the story world versus the real world, historical and contemporary parallels, governmental reform, and non-normative sexuality reveals that participants on Divergent fan forums discuss real-world issues and sometimes imagine a better world, but this does not conclusively raise political consciousness. We can account for these civic successes and failures by considering Dahlgren’s (2009) six elements of civic cultures: knowledge, values, trust, spaces, practices/skills, and identities. While fan knowledge, trust, and spaces are strong, and fan identities can be experienced as relatively static, values and practices/skills are important areas for intervention to cultivate political consciousness among young people. Critical civic education at the secondary school level could foster democratic values, and teaching media literacy and political discussion skills could improve students’ ability to think critically about entertainment narratives.