A recent genre study by Erika Gottlieb (2001) divides dystopian literature into two temporal categories, which she calls West and East. Within this framework, Gottlieb places Evgenii Zamiatin’s We (1921) within her Western framework comprised of authors primarily concerned with envisaging future totalitarian societies. Conversely, she places Andrei Platonov’s The Foundation Pit (1930) within her Eastern framework of authors concerned with providing descriptive works of those totalitarian societies come to pass in the present. It is with these classifications that this thesis takes issue. It is my contention that in We Zamiatin was actually centrally concerned with providing a description and critical account of both the volatile, repressive socialist system of contemporary Leninist Russia and the claim that post-revolutionary Russia now inhabited a post-historical epoch. I further argue that in The Foundation Pit Platonov was as concerned with questions of the future as he was with the society of the present: in his implied criticism of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans, he engages not merely with the political policies of a particular moment in time, but with the larger view of how the present relates to the future which underlies them.

A recent genre study by Erika Gottlieb (2001) divides dystopian literature into two temporal categories, which she calls West and East. Within this framework, Gottlieb places Evgenii Zamiatin’s We (1921) within her Western framework comprised of authors primarily concerned with envisaging future totalitarian societies. Conversely, she places Andrei Platonov’s The Foundation Pit (1930) within her Eastern framework of authors concerned with providing descriptive works of those totalitarian societies come to pass in the present. It is with these classifications that this thesis takes issue. It is my contention that in We Zamiatin was actually centrally concerned with providing a description and critical account of both the volatile, repressive socialist system of contemporary Leninist Russia and the claim that post-revolutionary Russia now inhabited a post-historical epoch. I further argue that in The Foundation Pit Platonov was as concerned with questions of the future as he was with the society of the present: in his implied criticism of Stalin’s Five-Year Plans, he engages not merely with the political policies of a particular moment in time, but with the larger view of how the present relates to the future which underlies them.

Michel Foucault is a celebrated post-structuralist theorist that has helped shape gender and sexual theory. In A History of Sexuality Volume 1 Foucault dismantles many longstanding sexual traditions and morals by exposing them as societal constructs. According to Foucault, anonymous yet fully invasive power sources have shaped and continue to shape sexual culture and more importantly, individual beliefs about sexuality. However, Foucault's obsession with the influence of power limits his sexual theory in three particular ways. First, he disregards the female sexual experience; second, he undermines individual agency; and third, he undermines the innate desire for love and family. The first half of the paper focuses on his dismissal of the female experience and individual agency. This section of the thesis relies heavily on other feminist scholars, social studies, and the work of historians. The second half of the paper focuses on the human desire for love and family and looks to dystopian literature to help critique Foucault. Dystopian literature has often been paired with modern cultural criticism, including psychoanalysis and post-strucutralism as both act as critiques of the permeating effects of societal control at a community and individual level. However, even dystopian literature leaves some room for individual agency and explores the innate desire for love and family.

Utopian literature has typically viewed the body as a pitfall on the path to social perfectibility, and utopian planners envision societies where the troublesome body is distanced as much as possible from utopia's guiding force-Reason. However, after two world wars, the failure of communism, and a century of corrupt "utopian" projects like Hitler's social engineering, dystopian societies justified on the grounds of "rational planning" fail to convince us, and the body has risen as the new locus for identity and agency, a point of stability in a dangerous and unstable environment. In this dissertation, I argue that utopian literature in the late twentieth century has identified the body as key to imagining new alternatives and re-connecting with an increasingly jeopardized sense of immediate, embodied experience. Protagonists in utopian literature looking to escape dehumanizing and bureaucratic worlds find their loophole in the sensual rush of adrenaline and instinct and the jarring rejuvenation of nerve and muscle, experiences which are much more immediately real and trustworthy than the tenuous dictates of institutions that tumble easily into absurdity and terror. Survival necessitates a raw and transformed identity that transgresses the tightly regimented boundaries of civilization and embraces the tumultuous chaos of the fringes and countercultures. Here, utopia thrives. I ground this study in theoretical and sociological texts which recognize the centrality of the body in society and the dynamic potentiality of utopian thinking, and then examine how these developments unfold in utopian literature since the mid twentieth century. The body as utopia surfaces in a variety of ways: as the longing for movement in Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano; as the creation of alternative spaces defined by embodiment in Angela Carter's Heroes and Villains and Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club; as the exuberant immersion in the modified body in Chuck Palahniuk's Rant; and as the search for perfection in a detached and corporate world in Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake. I conclude with an assessment of utopia in the twenty-first century, referring to Cormac McCarthy's The Road as a barometer of the grim state of utopian possibility as we head into the next century.

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2013. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation investigates the increase in Afrikaans novels set in the future at the time of publication in the period after 1999. The following seven Afrikaans futuristic novels were published in this time: Oemkontoe van die nasie (2001) by P.J. Haasbroek, Hotel Atlantis (2002) and Raka die roman (2005) by Koos Kombuis, Miskruier (2005) by Jaco Botha, Die nege kerse van Magriet (2006) by Barend P.J. Erasmus, Horrelpoot (2006) by Eben Venter and Wederkoms – Die lewe en geskiedenis van Jannes Hoop (2009) by Louis Krüger. These novels are discussed within the framework of dystopian literature since they all portray a future South Africa that is worse off than it was at the time of the novels’ publication. It is discussed whether the socio-political climate in South Africa after 1999 contributed to the increasing popularity of the dystopian genre in Afrikaans in this time. Dystopian literature in general comments on the present rather than the future. The social commentary in these novels is therefore also discussed. The following aspects of dystopian literature, as identified by critics such as Raffaella Baccolini, Fredric Jameson, Tom Moylan, Lyman Tower Sargent and Brian Stableford, is focused on in the analysis of the seven novels: the typical narrative in dystopian works; the distinction between the classical dystopia, critical dystopia and pseudo-dystopia; the connection between dystopian literature and apocalyptic literature, and common themes within dystopian literature (for example the control of language and the media, history and ecological issues). This dissertation highlights the similarities to as well as differences between the seven Afrikaans dystopian novels and typical dystopian works. It is also discussed how the context of a postcolonial and post-apartheid South Africa makes these novels unique. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie proefskrif ondersoek die toename van Afrikaanse romans in die tydperk ná 1999 wat ten tyde van publikasie in ʼn toekomstige Suid-Afrika afspeel. Die volgende toekomsromans verskyn in hierdie tyd: P.J. Haasbroek se Oemkontoe van die nasie (2001), Hotel Atlantis (2002) en Raka die roman (2005) deur Koos Kombuis, Miskruier (2005) deur Jaco Botha, Eben Venter se Horrelpoot (2006), Die nege kerse van Magriet (2006) deur Barend P.J. Erasmus en Louis Krüger se Wederkoms – Die lewe en geskiedenis van Jannes Hoop (2009). Dié sewe romans word binne die raamwerk van distopiese literatuur bespreek omdat hulle voldoen aan Lyman Tower Sargent se definisie van ʼn literêre distopie: hulle beeld almal ʼn toekomstige Suid-Afrika uit waarin dit slegter gaan as die tyd waarin die romans gepubliseer is. Daar word ondersoek of die sosio-politiese konteks waarin die toekomsromans van ná 1999 verskyn, moontlik ʼn bydrae gelewer het tot die toename van hierdie tipe roman in die tydperk. Toekomsvoorstellings binne distopiese literatuur lewer dikwels eerder kommentaar op die tyd waarin die werke verskyn as op die toekoms. Daar word ondersoek of dit ook die geval is met die Afrikaanse distopiese toekomsromans van ná 1999. Na aanleiding van teorieë rondom distopiese literatuur deur kritici soos Raffaella Baccolini, Fredric Jameson, Tom Moylan, Lyman Tower Sargent en Brian Stableford word daar op die volgende aspekte van distopiese literatuur gefokus in die analise van die sewe romans: die handeling in tipiese distopiese werke; die onderskeid tussen die klassieke distopie, kritiese distopie en pseudo-distopie; die verband tussen apokaliptiese en distopiese literatuur en algemene temas binne distopiese literatuur (byvoorbeeld die beheer van die taal en media, die geskiedenis en ekologiese vraagstukke). In die bespreking word daar gewys op die ooreenkomste, maar ook die verskille, tussen die sewe Afrikaanse distopiese romans en tipiese distopiese werke. Daar word ook bespreek hoe die konteks van ʼn postkoloniale en postapartheid Suid-Afrika ʼn uniekheid verleen aan dié werke.

Esta dissertação propõe uma leitura do romance Admirável Mundo Novo (1932) de Aldous Huxley sob a luz dos conceitos de Zygmunt Bauman da Modernidade Líquida. A narrativa ocorre em uma Londres futurística no século 26, no ano 2540 de nossa Era Comum, ou – na narrativa no ano 632 AF (Após Ford). Subjacente ao cenário distópico de avanço tecnológico e organização altamente desenvolvida, porém, os temas discutidos no romance remetem à circunstância do tempo e lugar de sua produção, o início dos anos 1930, em um contexto de desenvolvimento industrial, tensão política e crise econômica. Nesta pesquisa, eu busco a resposta para a seguinte pergunta: “De quais maneiras a ficção de Huxley antecipa o tipo de sociedade seus leitores vivem no tempo presente, três-quartos de século após sua publicação? Com ajuda das teorias do Professor Zygmunt Bauman, eu construo minha interpretação das metáforas encontradas no romance, que prognosticam as atuais condições de capitalismo de mercado livre, consumismo, obsolescência programada que determinam a ética, a estética e a forma de pensar de nosso tempo presente. As hipóteses de Bauman concernem a liquidez do mundo atual, no qual nada deve durar muito. Esta premissa gera um grande número de consequências, tais como: fragilidade dos laços humanos, pensamento crítico superficial e supremacia dos contatos virtuais sobre ocontato de fato entre as pessoas. A dissertação está dividida em quatro capítulos. No primeiro, eu contextualizo o conceito de distopia. No segundo, eu trago a contextualização necessária sobre o tempo, a obra e o autor. No terceiro, eu introduzo os conceitos de Bauman sobre modernidade sólida e líquida e os conecto com o estudo de Admirável Mundo Novo. No capítulo IV, apresento minha leitura da obra. Ao final da pesquisa, espero encontrar respostas para a questão proposta estabelecendo inter-relações entre os aspectos ficcionais do romance e os traços sociais de nosso tempo atual. / The present thesis proposes a reading of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) in the light of Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Modernity. The plot of the novel unfolds in the futuristic London of the 26th century, in the year 2540 of our Common Era, or – in the narrative – in the year 632 AF (After Ford). Underlying the dystopian scenario of technological advancement and highly developed organization, however, the themes discussed in the novel actually address the circumstances of the time and place of its own production, the beginning of the 1930’s, in a context of developing industrialization, political tension, and economic crises. In this research, I pursue the answer to the following question: “In what ways does Huxley’s fiction anticipate the kind of society its readers would be living in at our present time, three quarters of a century after its publication?” With the help of Professor Zygmunt Bauman’s theories, I build my interpretation of the metaphors found in the novel, that prognosticate the current conditions of free-market capitalism, consumerism, programmed obsolescence, that determine the ethics, the aesthetics and the ways of thinking of our present times. Bauman’s assumptions concern the liquidity of the contemporary world, where nothing is meant to last long. This premise generates a number of consequences such as overconsumption, frail human bonds, superficial critical thought, and supremacy of online over factual contacts among people. The thesis is devised in three chapters. In the first, I contextualize the concept of dystopia. In the second, I bring the necessary contextualization about the time, the work and the author. In the third, I introduce Bauman’s concepts of solid modernity and liquid modernity and connect them with the study of Brave New World. Finally. In Chapter IV, I present my reading of the novel. At the end of the research, I expect to find the answers to the posed question by establishing critical interrelations between the fictional aspects of the novel and the social features ongoing in our present time.

Esta dissertação propõe uma leitura do romance Admirável Mundo Novo (1932) de Aldous Huxley sob a luz dos conceitos de Zygmunt Bauman da Modernidade Líquida. A narrativa ocorre em uma Londres futurística no século 26, no ano 2540 de nossa Era Comum, ou – na narrativa no ano 632 AF (Após Ford). Subjacente ao cenário distópico de avanço tecnológico e organização altamente desenvolvida, porém, os temas discutidos no romance remetem à circunstância do tempo e lugar de sua produção, o início dos anos 1930, em um contexto de desenvolvimento industrial, tensão política e crise econômica. Nesta pesquisa, eu busco a resposta para a seguinte pergunta: “De quais maneiras a ficção de Huxley antecipa o tipo de sociedade seus leitores vivem no tempo presente, três-quartos de século após sua publicação? Com ajuda das teorias do Professor Zygmunt Bauman, eu construo minha interpretação das metáforas encontradas no romance, que prognosticam as atuais condições de capitalismo de mercado livre, consumismo, obsolescência programada que determinam a ética, a estética e a forma de pensar de nosso tempo presente. As hipóteses de Bauman concernem a liquidez do mundo atual, no qual nada deve durar muito. Esta premissa gera um grande número de consequências, tais como: fragilidade dos laços humanos, pensamento crítico superficial e supremacia dos contatos virtuais sobre ocontato de fato entre as pessoas. A dissertação está dividida em quatro capítulos. No primeiro, eu contextualizo o conceito de distopia. No segundo, eu trago a contextualização necessária sobre o tempo, a obra e o autor. No terceiro, eu introduzo os conceitos de Bauman sobre modernidade sólida e líquida e os conecto com o estudo de Admirável Mundo Novo. No capítulo IV, apresento minha leitura da obra. Ao final da pesquisa, espero encontrar respostas para a questão proposta estabelecendo inter-relações entre os aspectos ficcionais do romance e os traços sociais de nosso tempo atual. / The present thesis proposes a reading of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) in the light of Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Modernity. The plot of the novel unfolds in the futuristic London of the 26th century, in the year 2540 of our Common Era, or – in the narrative – in the year 632 AF (After Ford). Underlying the dystopian scenario of technological advancement and highly developed organization, however, the themes discussed in the novel actually address the circumstances of the time and place of its own production, the beginning of the 1930’s, in a context of developing industrialization, political tension, and economic crises. In this research, I pursue the answer to the following question: “In what ways does Huxley’s fiction anticipate the kind of society its readers would be living in at our present time, three quarters of a century after its publication?” With the help of Professor Zygmunt Bauman’s theories, I build my interpretation of the metaphors found in the novel, that prognosticate the current conditions of free-market capitalism, consumerism, programmed obsolescence, that determine the ethics, the aesthetics and the ways of thinking of our present times. Bauman’s assumptions concern the liquidity of the contemporary world, where nothing is meant to last long. This premise generates a number of consequences such as overconsumption, frail human bonds, superficial critical thought, and supremacy of online over factual contacts among people. The thesis is devised in three chapters. In the first, I contextualize the concept of dystopia. In the second, I bring the necessary contextualization about the time, the work and the author. In the third, I introduce Bauman’s concepts of solid modernity and liquid modernity and connect them with the study of Brave New World. Finally. In Chapter IV, I present my reading of the novel. At the end of the research, I expect to find the answers to the posed question by establishing critical interrelations between the fictional aspects of the novel and the social features ongoing in our present time.

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a figura do vampiro na literatura como poderosa ferramenta de leitura e interpretação dos medos e angústias que afligem um determinado espaço sociocultural. Ao olhar para a evolução do vampiro literário através dos séculos dezenove, vinte e vinte e um, notamos que cada uma de suas encarnações difere dramaticamente da anterior, e no que o vampiro é reinventado, ele engaja-se num diálogo pertinente e coerente com questões de seu próprio tempo, nunca perdendo assim sua relevância. Sua existência heterogênea, explicitada na dissertação primariamente através das obras Carmilla, de Sheridan LeFanu, Dracula, de Bram Stoker, Eu Sou a Lenda, de Richard Matheson, Entrevista com o Vampiro, de Anne Rice e Fledgling, de Octavia Butler, e as diferentes questões suscitadas em cada uma dessas obras como a sexualidade, a alteridade e o hibridismo nos levarão ao entendimento de que o vampiro pode potencialmente desempenhar importante função alegórica, tornando-se um espelho da própria humanidade através da qual se sustenta / The present work aims at looking at the figure of the vampire in literature as powerful means of reading and interpreting the fears and anxieties of a specific socio-cultural space. By looking at the evolution of the literary vampire through the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we are able to notice that each of its incarnations dramatically differs from the previous one, and as vampires are reinvented, they engage in a coherent dialog with issues pertaining to their times, in a way that they never lose their relevance. Their heterogeneous existence, explicited in the dissertation primarily through Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla, Bram Stokers Dracula, Richard Mathesons I am Legend, Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire and Octavia Butlers Fledgling, and the different theoretical questions brought on by each of them such as sexuality, alterity and hybridity will lead us to the understanding that the vampire may potentially function as a powerful allegory as it becomes a mirror of the very humanity on which its life depends

Esta dissertação tem como objetivo analisar a figura do vampiro na literatura como poderosa ferramenta de leitura e interpretação dos medos e angústias que afligem um determinado espaço sociocultural. Ao olhar para a evolução do vampiro literário através dos séculos dezenove, vinte e vinte e um, notamos que cada uma de suas encarnações difere dramaticamente da anterior, e no que o vampiro é reinventado, ele engaja-se num diálogo pertinente e coerente com questões de seu próprio tempo, nunca perdendo assim sua relevância. Sua existência heterogênea, explicitada na dissertação primariamente através das obras Carmilla, de Sheridan LeFanu, Dracula, de Bram Stoker, Eu Sou a Lenda, de Richard Matheson, Entrevista com o Vampiro, de Anne Rice e Fledgling, de Octavia Butler, e as diferentes questões suscitadas em cada uma dessas obras como a sexualidade, a alteridade e o hibridismo nos levarão ao entendimento de que o vampiro pode potencialmente desempenhar importante função alegórica, tornando-se um espelho da própria humanidade através da qual se sustenta / The present work aims at looking at the figure of the vampire in literature as powerful means of reading and interpreting the fears and anxieties of a specific socio-cultural space. By looking at the evolution of the literary vampire through the nineteenth, twentieth and twenty-first centuries, we are able to notice that each of its incarnations dramatically differs from the previous one, and as vampires are reinvented, they engage in a coherent dialog with issues pertaining to their times, in a way that they never lose their relevance. Their heterogeneous existence, explicited in the dissertation primarily through Sheridan LeFanus Carmilla, Bram Stokers Dracula, Richard Mathesons I am Legend, Anne Rices Interview with the Vampire and Octavia Butlers Fledgling, and the different theoretical questions brought on by each of them such as sexuality, alterity and hybridity will lead us to the understanding that the vampire may potentially function as a powerful allegory as it becomes a mirror of the very humanity on which its life depends

Esta dissertação propõe uma leitura do romance Admirável Mundo Novo (1932) de Aldous Huxley sob a luz dos conceitos de Zygmunt Bauman da Modernidade Líquida. A narrativa ocorre em uma Londres futurística no século 26, no ano 2540 de nossa Era Comum, ou – na narrativa no ano 632 AF (Após Ford). Subjacente ao cenário distópico de avanço tecnológico e organização altamente desenvolvida, porém, os temas discutidos no romance remetem à circunstância do tempo e lugar de sua produção, o início dos anos 1930, em um contexto de desenvolvimento industrial, tensão política e crise econômica. Nesta pesquisa, eu busco a resposta para a seguinte pergunta: “De quais maneiras a ficção de Huxley antecipa o tipo de sociedade seus leitores vivem no tempo presente, três-quartos de século após sua publicação? Com ajuda das teorias do Professor Zygmunt Bauman, eu construo minha interpretação das metáforas encontradas no romance, que prognosticam as atuais condições de capitalismo de mercado livre, consumismo, obsolescência programada que determinam a ética, a estética e a forma de pensar de nosso tempo presente. As hipóteses de Bauman concernem a liquidez do mundo atual, no qual nada deve durar muito. Esta premissa gera um grande número de consequências, tais como: fragilidade dos laços humanos, pensamento crítico superficial e supremacia dos contatos virtuais sobre ocontato de fato entre as pessoas. A dissertação está dividida em quatro capítulos. No primeiro, eu contextualizo o conceito de distopia. No segundo, eu trago a contextualização necessária sobre o tempo, a obra e o autor. No terceiro, eu introduzo os conceitos de Bauman sobre modernidade sólida e líquida e os conecto com o estudo de Admirável Mundo Novo. No capítulo IV, apresento minha leitura da obra. Ao final da pesquisa, espero encontrar respostas para a questão proposta estabelecendo inter-relações entre os aspectos ficcionais do romance e os traços sociais de nosso tempo atual. / The present thesis proposes a reading of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World (1932) in the light of Zygmunt Bauman’s concept of Liquid Modernity. The plot of the novel unfolds in the futuristic London of the 26th century, in the year 2540 of our Common Era, or – in the narrative – in the year 632 AF (After Ford). Underlying the dystopian scenario of technological advancement and highly developed organization, however, the themes discussed in the novel actually address the circumstances of the time and place of its own production, the beginning of the 1930’s, in a context of developing industrialization, political tension, and economic crises. In this research, I pursue the answer to the following question: “In what ways does Huxley’s fiction anticipate the kind of society its readers would be living in at our present time, three quarters of a century after its publication?” With the help of Professor Zygmunt Bauman’s theories, I build my interpretation of the metaphors found in the novel, that prognosticate the current conditions of free-market capitalism, consumerism, programmed obsolescence, that determine the ethics, the aesthetics and the ways of thinking of our present times. Bauman’s assumptions concern the liquidity of the contemporary world, where nothing is meant to last long. This premise generates a number of consequences such as overconsumption, frail human bonds, superficial critical thought, and supremacy of online over factual contacts among people. The thesis is devised in three chapters. In the first, I contextualize the concept of dystopia. In the second, I bring the necessary contextualization about the time, the work and the author. In the third, I introduce Bauman’s concepts of solid modernity and liquid modernity and connect them with the study of Brave New World. Finally. In Chapter IV, I present my reading of the novel. At the end of the research, I expect to find the answers to the posed question by establishing critical interrelations between the fictional aspects of the novel and the social features ongoing in our present time.