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.

Is big brother watching you? A computational analysis of frequencies of Dystopian Terminology in George Orwell's 1984

Abstract: George Orwell's 1984 is considered by many to be a classical work of modern English literature with tremendous influence. It has been translated into many languages and is still one of the most read works to the present day. The word “Orwellian” is used in present-day English language to describe a totalitarian utopia, i.e. dystopia. The terms and literary concepts in the novel have been the subject of a vast critical acclaim, whereas the novel's terminology used by Orwell is still being massively utilised in media, political science, education, popular culture etc. Linguists claim that terms such as “Big Brother”, “thoughtcrime”, “Room 101” and others are in common use since the publication of the novel in 1949. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate, through the use of a computational analysis of frequencies of dystopian terminology in the text of George Orwell's 1984, that it is possible to measure how the Orwellian concept is created, constructed and structured in the novel. Such a computational approach might provide deeper, objective, unbiased and consistent insights into the phenomenon of dystopia in fictional literature.

Stepping Razor in Orbit: Postmodern Identity and Political Alternatives in William Gibson's Neuromancer

Abstract: uch has been written about how cyberspace in William Gibson’s Neuromancer allows new forms of identity. Within that cyberspace, the self can be called into question, decentered, split apart, and rendered unknowable. Brian McHale, Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., Veronica Hollinger, Scott Bukatman, and John Christie, to name a few critics, have all argued that in some fashion Gibson’s cyberspace represents identity as postmodern.1 In Neuromancer, the new forms of identity point not so much to where we are headed in the future as to where we are in our present condition. The novel is social commentary for contemporary Western society, extrapolating the trajectory of our social practices in the latter years of the twentieth century. The novel illustrates how technology and global capitalism influence our ontology by generating a world of images that have no original referent: meaning is cut loose from our surroundings, so that the self and the world we knew are in question.2 This questioning of ontology in Neuromancer, the representative text for the cyberpunk genre, has caused concern because of its political ramifications. Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. finds cyberpunk to be the apotheosis of postmodernism as selfconscious bad faith: he argues that cyberpunk concerns itself not with hopes and solutions but with the difficulties of representation in a hyperreal setting (“Cyberpunk” 193). Along with Csicsery-Ronay, Jr., many have criticized cyberpunk or Neuromancer for a lack of positive alternatives to an impending, dystopic future.3 What has generally been overlooked in Neuromancer is an enclave of political resistance found in the Zion cluster, the home of the Rastas Aerol and Maelcum. Tom Moylan has pointed out its role as a seemingly utopian alternative that might shift the novel’s focus from a dystopian pessimism to a utopian M

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: examining its utopian, dystopian, feminist and postmodernist traditions

Abstract: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: examining its utopian, dystopian, feminist and postmodernist traditions" (1991). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. Paper 57.

Marginalization of “the Other”: Gender Discrimination in Dystopian Visions by Feminist Science Fiction Authors

Abstract: Sex-based discrimination is the most widespread form of social oppression, since the criterion of gender is readily applied in delineating social division lines According to feminists, this has led to the establishment of the patriarchal system, defined as a political institution "whereby the half of the populace which is female is controlled by that half which is male" (Millett 34) Such a dichotomization is a direct result of the dualistic thinking of the phallocentric society, in which the core of the system of thought and of the society as a whole is embedded in oppositional binarism A relationship which remains in a binary opposition inherently entails a strong contrast and a superiority relationship Inevitably, thus, "the other" is ascribed an inferior rank, along with features opposite to those exhibited by the superior norm The male and the female in the patriarchyshaped consciousness are representative of such a relationship, in which the woman is "the other," who frequently assumes marginalized statusThis marginality is closely associated with a strong sense of difference resulting from the decidedly androcentric perception of gender Significantly, femininity can even be defined in terms of a marginalized social position Following Julia Kristeva, Toril Moi describes femininity as "that which is marginalized by the patriarchal symbolic order" (248) Thus, it seems undeniable that gender is one of the main determinants of marginality (Lee 33), and that women are the most frequent victims of marginalization This fact manifests itself primarily in exclusion from social and economic life, denial of freedoms and lack of equality Invariably, patriarchy is the instrument of social control, which ensures that this state of affairs persists, as it "[keeps] women out or on the edges of its economy and institutions" (Heath qtd in Barr 70)The marginalized status of women has been one of the main preoccupations of all the waves of feminism, the first two in particular While feminist philosophy addresses the problem from a socio-political perspective, feminist science fiction attempts to approach it from a literary angle A marginal genre in itself, feminist speculative fiction discusses the same issues that concern feminist theorists, yet it presents and dramatizes them in the form of thought experiments The negative aspects of patriarchy, including the marginalization of women, are typically exposed by means of dystopian visions Masculinist dystopias feature worlds of male dominance, where discrimination and sexism are carried to the extreme These are usually set in invented worlds, planets, moons and lands, the exact spatial and temporal location of which remains unknown Despite this or, paradoxically, due to this intentional cognitive estrangement, the problems dramatized in such novels are recognizable for a contemporary reader Indeed, many critics perceive strong parallels with the contemporary world, which can hardly be dismissed as unintended Even though certain issues are exaggerated, their relevance to current issues is indisputableThus, defamiliarization and the introduction of fantastic elements do not detract from the social significance of feminist science fiction and they certainly do not lessen their impact on its target audience Still, many authors opt for more straightforward ways of social indictment than merely criticism by implication They rely on realist techniques to convey the message about the deficiencies of our world and its social organization, in particular the continued inequality of women Consequently, instead of otherworldly locations and extraterrestrial races, the reader is presented with a more or less traditionally realist, or even naturalist, depiction of twentieth-century America-contemporary to the authors at the time of writing This allows the writers to illustrate truthfully, without the guise of science fictional tropes, the actual gender inequality that they wish to disclose as prevalent and harmful …

The fecund androgyne: Gender and the utopian/dystopian imagination of the 1970s

Abstract: The impulse to create images of utopian existence, and sometimes to pursue them actively, can be found in virtually every culture. Often, such visions are expressed within the realms of mythology a...