We live in an age of rapid change. The advance of science and technology, throughout history, has culminated in periods of transition when social values have had to adapt to a changed environment. Such times have proved fertile ground for the expansion of the imagination. Utopian literature offers a vast archive of information concerning the relationship between scientific and technological progress and social change. Alterations in the most basic machinery of society inspired utopian authors to write of distant and future worlds which had achieved a state of harmony and plenty. The dilemmas which writers faced were particular to their era, but there also emerged certain universal themes and questions: What is the best organisation of society? What tools would be adequate to the task? What does it mean to be human? The dividing line on these issues revolves around two opposed beliefs. Some perceived the power inherent in technology to effect the greatest improvement in the human condition. Others were convinced that the organisation of the social order must come first so as to create an environment sympathetic to perceived human needs. There are, necessarily, contradictions in such a division. They can be seen plainly in More's Utopia itself. More wanted to see new science and technique developed. But he also condemned the social consequences which inevitably flowed from the process of discovery. These consequences led More to create a utopia based on social reorganisation. In the main, the utopias of Francis Bacon, Edward Bellamy and the later H. G. Wells accepted science, while the work of William Morris, Aldous Huxley and Kurt Vonnegut rejected science in preference for a different social order. More's Utopia and Bacon's New Atlantis were written at a time when feudal, agriciTfural society wasbeeing transformed by new discoveries and techniques. In a later age, Bellamy's Looking Backward and Morris's News From Nowhere offer contrary responses to society at the height of the Industrial evolution. These four authors serve as a prelude to the main area of the thesis which centres on the twentieth century. Wells, though his first novel appeared in 1895, produced the vast bulk of his work in the current century. Huxley acts as an appropriate balance to Wells and also exemplifies the shift from utopia to dystopia. The last section of the thesis deals with the work of Kurt Vonnegut and includes an interview with that author. The twentieth century has seen the proliferation of dystopias, portraits of the disastrous consequences of the headlong pursuit of science and technology, unallied to human values. Huxley and Vonnegut crystallised the fears of a modern generation: that we create a soulless, mechanised, urban nightmare. The contemporary fascination with science in literature is merely an extension of a process with a long tradition and underlying theme. The advance of science and technology created the physical and intellectual environment for utopian authors which determined the form and content of their visions.

Sarah Hall’s feminist dystopia The Carhullan Army presents a near-future society by using oppositional binaries traditional to the genre of the literary dystopia; Utopia/Dystopia, Male/Female, and Good/Evil. This essay deconstructs these binaries in order to unveil the inherent complexities in power structures that cannot be captured by such binaries. Previous research on the novel has approached it with feminist theory, and different branches of feminism such as ecofeminism. In this essay, I use feminist theory as a starting point to discuss the Authority’s oppression of women in the novel, but I also show the limits to this approach when considering the apparent post-9/11 context in which the novel is situated, which decisively inflects its treatment of power. Michel Foucault’s theories on power and knowledge are used in order to examine the complex power structures in The Carhullan Army, which relate to—and transcend—borders of gender. I find that the subtle political presence of American imperialism in the novel is vital to understand the power struggles that are apparent in both the patriarchal city of Rith and the matriarchal Carhullan farm. This essay examines the novel both as a critique to the political submissiveness that Great Britain showed when it followed America into war against Iraq in 2003 and as a depiction of what this submission might lead to.

In this thesis I mainly analyzed the canonical dystopian works, like J. Zamjatin We and G. Orwell 1984, based on this observation I circumscribe the five criteria by which the dystopian fictional world works. In the following sections, I observed the role and place of these criteria in the 20th century Czech literature works.

Applying utopian theory to the Bible reveals a number of issues surrounding the biblical text within academic disciplines such as biblical studies, which study the Bible as an ancient cultural artefact, and among religious readers of the Bible. The biblical passage Numbers 13 was chosen as a case study of a utopian reading of the image of the Promised Land to demonstrate the Bible’s multifaceted potential by externalising the presupposition brought to the text. The underlying method is derived from an ideal type procedure, appropriated from Weber. Instead of comparing phenomena to each other, one compares a phenomenon to a constructed ideal type. This method enables one to compare phenomena independently of exclusive definitions and direct linear influences. It has been suggested by biblical scholars that utopian readings of the Bible can yield insights into socio-political circumstances in the society which produced biblical texts. Using observations by Holquist about utopias’ relationships to reality it is asked if applying the concept of utopia to a biblical passage allows drawing conclusions about the originating society of the Hebrew Bible. The answer is negative. Theory about literary utopias is applied to the case study passage. Numbers 13 is similar to literary utopias in juxtaposing a significantly improved society with a home society, the motif of travellers in an unfamiliar environment, and the feature of a map which is graphically not representable. Noth’s reading of the biblical passage’s toponyms reveals that its map is a utopian map. Numbers 13 is best understood as a literary utopia describing an unrealistic environment and using common utopian techniques and motifs. Despite describing an unrealistic environment, the passage was understood as directly relevant to reality by readers throughout time, for example by Bradford. Following two Puritan readings, it is observed that biblical utopian texts have the potential of being applied in reality by those who see them as a call to action. If a literary utopia is attempted to be brought into reality, it becomes apparent that it marginalises those who are not utopian protagonists; in the case study passage, the non-Israelite tribes, in Bradford’s reading, the Native Nations in New England. The interplay of utopia and dystopia is explored and it is concluded that a definitive trait of literary utopias is their potential to turn into an experienced dystopia if enforced literally. This argument is supported by demonstrating that the utopian traits of the case study passage contain dystopian downsides if read from a different perspective. A contemporary utopian reading of the case study passage is proposed. Today utopian speculation most often appears in works of science fiction (SF). Motifs appearing in the case study passage are read as tropes familiar to a contemporary Bible reader from SF. Following D. Suvin’s SF theory, it is concluded that the Bible in the contemporary world can be understood as a piece of SF. It contains the juxtaposition of an estranged world with a reader’s experienced world as well as a potential utopian and dystopian message.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-25T20:22:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rogerio Bianchi de Araujo.pdf: 1496828 bytes, checksum: a328db34106753104e3a38d17d3db961 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The objective of this thesis is to problematize the role of utopia in contemporaneity without explaining all its nuances, nor to attempt to come up with an interpretation of utopia throughout various historical contexts. This thesis does not intend to be a conclusive study given the wealth of references on utopia, particularly in the area of study of Human Sciences. I am focussing on a part of an epistemological study, which permits us to think about contemporary utopia and anti-utopia from the perspective of some authors, whose ideas I will use with the purpose of bringing their thoughts together in a way that seems most appropriate to comprehend the role of utopia in contemporaneity. By analyzing some of Gianni Vattimo and Edgar Morin s works, I will discuss the necessity to create a new paradigm of thought, which permits us to reconnect to objectivity and subjectivity, which were lost after the Cartesian paradigm. Utopia is a development of ethics and principles, which guide utopian thought. It contains in itself an objectivity of thought which creates a dialogic relationship between the concrete possibilities of realization and the imaginary possibilities of day dreaming. Following this line of thought , I used, Ernst Bloch s Principle of Hope and Hans Jonas Principle of Responsibility as my references and in such a way that they would complement each other and not the contrary. In conclusion, I intend to demonstrate that the utopia of the development of a planetary citizenship is stimulated through the expansion of the consumer society, which I consider to be a contemporary anti-utopia. Some authors, such as Jean Baudrillard and Zygmunt Bauman are important references for problematizing the disastrous effects of the consumer society. I used various information sources, besides the authors cited, including references from cinema and literary works, which I used to justify my arguments given that utopia contains both objective and subjective dimensions of analysis. It is possible to affirm that in contemporaneity, it has not disappeared, rather, there are new paradigms that have emerged and this thesis seeks to discuss those / O objetivo desta tese é problematizar o papel da utopia na contemporaneidade e não explicá-la com todas as suas nuances, nem fazer a sua interpretação no decorrer dos mais variados contextos históricos. Esta tese não pretende esgotar o assunto devido à vastidão de referências utópicas, sobretudo dentro da área de estudos das Ciências Humanas. Faço um recorte epistemológico que permite pensar a utopia e a antiutopia contemporânea sob a perspectiva de alguns autores que me aproprio com a finalidade de conciliar seus pensamentos num caminho que parece ser o mais adequado para compreender o espaço da utopia na contemporaneidade. Por meio da análise de algumas obras de Gianni Vattimo e Edgar Morin discuto a necessidade da criação de um novo paradigma de pensamento que nos permita a religação da objetividade e da subjetividade perdida desde o paradigma cartesiano. A utopia se constrói também com ética e princípios que norteiam o pensar utópico. Ela comporta em si uma objetividade de pensamento que se constrói na relação dialógico entre as possibilidades concretas de realização e as possibilidades imaginárias do sonho acordado. Nesse sentido, tomei como referência o Princípio Esperança de Ernst Bloch e o Princípio Responsabilidade de Hans Jonas de forma complementar e não antagônica. Por fim, pretendi demonstrar que a utopia da construção da cidadania planetária é incentivada por meio da expansão da sociedade de consumo a qual considero como a antitutopia contemporânea. Alguns autores, tais como Jean Baudrillard e Zygmunt Bauman são referências importantes para problematizar os efeitos desastrosos da sociedade de consumo. Como método de trabalho e pesquisa, além dos autores citados, utilizei em toda a tese os referenciais do cinema e de obras literárias para justificar as minhas argumentações dado que a utopia contém dimensões objetivas e subjetivas de análise. É possível afirmar que na contemporaneidade ela não desapareceu, mas se faz com novos paradigmas que esta tese procura discutir

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T14:57:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Rogerio Bianchi de Araujo.pdf: 1496828 bytes, checksum: a328db34106753104e3a38d17d3db961 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-12-11 / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico / The objective of this thesis is to problematize the role of utopia in contemporaneity without explaining all its nuances, nor to attempt to come up with an interpretation of utopia throughout various historical contexts. This thesis does not intend to be a conclusive study given the wealth of references on utopia, particularly in the area of study of Human Sciences. I am focussing on a part of an epistemological study, which permits us to think about contemporary utopia and anti-utopia from the perspective of some authors, whose ideas I will use with the purpose of bringing their thoughts together in a way that seems most appropriate to comprehend the role of utopia in contemporaneity. By analyzing some of Gianni Vattimo and Edgar Morin s works, I will discuss the necessity to create a new paradigm of thought, which permits us to reconnect to objectivity and subjectivity, which were lost after the Cartesian paradigm. Utopia is a development of ethics and principles, which guide utopian thought. It contains in itself an objectivity of thought which creates a dialogic relationship between the concrete possibilities of realization and the imaginary possibilities of day dreaming. Following this line of thought , I used, Ernst Bloch s Principle of Hope and Hans Jonas Principle of Responsibility as my references and in such a way that they would complement each other and not the contrary. In conclusion, I intend to demonstrate that the utopia of the development of a planetary citizenship is stimulated through the expansion of the consumer society, which I consider to be a contemporary anti-utopia. Some authors, such as Jean Baudrillard and Zygmunt Bauman are important references for problematizing the disastrous effects of the consumer society. I used various information sources, besides the authors cited, including references from cinema and literary works, which I used to justify my arguments given that utopia contains both objective and subjective dimensions of analysis. It is possible to affirm that in contemporaneity, it has not disappeared, rather, there are new paradigms that have emerged and this thesis seeks to discuss those / O objetivo desta tese é problematizar o papel da utopia na contemporaneidade e não explicá-la com todas as suas nuances, nem fazer a sua interpretação no decorrer dos mais variados contextos históricos. Esta tese não pretende esgotar o assunto devido à vastidão de referências utópicas, sobretudo dentro da área de estudos das Ciências Humanas. Faço um recorte epistemológico que permite pensar a utopia e a antiutopia contemporânea sob a perspectiva de alguns autores que me aproprio com a finalidade de conciliar seus pensamentos num caminho que parece ser o mais adequado para compreender o espaço da utopia na contemporaneidade. Por meio da análise de algumas obras de Gianni Vattimo e Edgar Morin discuto a necessidade da criação de um novo paradigma de pensamento que nos permita a religação da objetividade e da subjetividade perdida desde o paradigma cartesiano. A utopia se constrói também com ética e princípios que norteiam o pensar utópico. Ela comporta em si uma objetividade de pensamento que se constrói na relação dialógico entre as possibilidades concretas de realização e as possibilidades imaginárias do sonho acordado. Nesse sentido, tomei como referência o Princípio Esperança de Ernst Bloch e o Princípio Responsabilidade de Hans Jonas de forma complementar e não antagônica. Por fim, pretendi demonstrar que a utopia da construção da cidadania planetária é incentivada por meio da expansão da sociedade de consumo a qual considero como a antitutopia contemporânea. Alguns autores, tais como Jean Baudrillard e Zygmunt Bauman são referências importantes para problematizar os efeitos desastrosos da sociedade de consumo. Como método de trabalho e pesquisa, além dos autores citados, utilizei em toda a tese os referenciais do cinema e de obras literárias para justificar as minhas argumentações dado que a utopia contém dimensões objetivas e subjetivas de análise. É possível afirmar que na contemporaneidade ela não desapareceu, mas se faz com novos paradigmas que esta tese procura discutir

The aim of this thesis is to analyse two novels written by Aldous Huxley an anti-utopian novel Brave New World (1932) and a utopian novel Island (1963). The examination of both Huxley´ s works is based on the analysis of literary genres. The thesis outlines difficulties concerning a precise definition of the terms "utopia," "anti-utopia," and "dystopia." The genesis of the genres is also briefly mentioned. The thesis also deals with both common and distinct features of the genres. Because of the purpose of the analysis regarding Brave New World and Island, the thesis includes Huxley´ s other works (essays and novels), dystopian novels Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell and We by Yevgeny Zamyatin and a utopian novel Men Like Gods by H. G. Wells.

In my dissertation Theory of Petrified Worlds on the Example of Anti-Utopian and Dystopian Literature, I deal with anti-utopian and dystopian literature, which has been largely neglected by Czech scholarship. After the introduction to the issue I deal with the detailed analysis of the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, after which I devote my attention to the theoretical definition of terms, including the historical mapping of previous research. I focus on the historical context of the emergence of the genres, including a deeper analysis of its beginnings, i.e. the development of utopian literature from Plato to William Morris and Herbert George Wells, and in detail describe the emergence of anti-utopian literature primarily as an opposition to utopian tendencies and its evolution into dystopia. A major part of the work deals with a specific semiotic analysis of the characteristic and constitutive features of the genres of anti-utopian and dystopian literature of the 20th and 21st centuries. This includes, among other things, the closed and petrified world of the novels, which gave the name to the presented theory, the strict division of society, the existence of newspeak, the characteristics of the main and secondary characters, as well as the social and political context of the analysed works. In...