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Dystopia

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This article is about the philosophical concept and literary form. For other uses, see Dystopia (disambiguation).

A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,[1] kakotopia, cackotopia, or anti-utopia) is the vision of a society that is the opposite of utopia. A dystopian society is a state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad, characterized by human misery, poverty, oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution.

Some academic circles distinguish between anti-utopia and dystopia. As in George Orwell's 1984, a dystopia does not pretend to be utopian, 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.[2]

Origin of the word

The first known use of the term dystopia appeared in a speech before the British Parliament by Greg Webber and John Stuart Mill[3] in 1868. In that speech, Mill said, "It is, perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys-topians, or caco-topians. What is commonly called Utopian is something too good to be practicable; but what they appear to favor is too bad to be practicable."[4] 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-") 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," or "good."

Common traits of a dystopian society

The only trait common to all dystopias is that they are negative and undesirable societies, but many commonalities are found across dystopian societies. In general, dystopias are seen as visions of "dangerous and alienating future societies," often criticizing current trends in culture.[5] It is a culture where the condition of life is "extremely bad," as from deprivation, oppression, or terror.[6]

Counter-utopia

Many dystopias, found in fictional and artistic works, can be described as a utopian society with at least one fatal flaw;[7] whereas a utopian society is founded on the good life, a dystopian society’s dreams of improvement are overshadowed by stimulating fears of the “ugly consequences of present-day behavior”.[8]

Society

Most dystopias impose severe social restrictions on the characters' lives.

This can take the form of social stratification, 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, who lack the very ability to advance.

Another, often related form of restriction lies in the requirement of strict conformity among citizens, with a general assumption that dissent and individuality are bad. In the novel We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, 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." In the lower castes, in Brave New World, single embryos are "bokanovskified", so that they produce between eight and ninety-six identical siblings, making the citizens as uniform as possible.[9]

Some dystopian works emphasize the pressure to conform in terms of the requirement to not excel. In these works, the society is ruthlessly egalitarian, in which ability and accomplishment, or even competence, are suppressed or stigmatized as forms of inequality, as in Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron. Similarly, in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, the dystopia represses the intellectuals with particular force, because most people are willing to accept it, and the resistance to it consists mostly of intellectuals.[10] Moreover in Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged the protagonist Dagny Taggart struggles to keep Taggart Transcontinental thriving in a world that spurns innovation and excellence. All of Dagny's opponents cite "equality of opportunity" and the "public good" as their justifications for opposing free market capitalism and competition.

Social Groups

In a typical dystopia, there is a total absence of any social group besides the state, as in We, or such social groups being subdivisions of the state, under government control, for example, the Junior Anti-Sex League in 1984.

Among social groups, independent religions are notable by their absence. In Brave New World, the establishment of the state including lopping off the tops of all crosses (as symbols of Christianity) to make them "T"s, (as symbols of Henry Ford's Model T).[11] The state may stage, instead, a personality cult, with quasi-religious rituals about a central figure, usually a head of state or an oligarchy of some sort, such as Big Brother in 1984, or The Benefactor of We. In explicitly theocratic dystopias, such as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, the religion is the state, and is enforced with the same vigor as any secular dystopia's rule; it does not provide social bonds outside the state.

Even more than religion, family is attacked by dystopian societies. In some societies, it has been completely eradicated, but clearly at great effort, and continuing efforts are deployed to keep it down, as in Brave New World, where children are reproduced artificially, where the concept of a "mother" or "father" is obscene. In others, the institution of the family exists but great efforts are deployed to keep it in service of the state, as in 1984, where children are organized to spy on their parents. In We, the escape of a pregnant woman from the United State is a revolt; the hostility of the state to motherhood is a particularly common trait.[12]

Sexuality

The dystopia often must contain human sexuality in order to prevent its disrupting society.

The disruption often springs from the social bonds that sexual activity foments rather than sexual activity itself, as when Ayn Rand's Anthem features an hero and heroine whose revolt stems from a wish to form a human connection and express personal love.[13] Therefore, some dystopias are depicted as containing it through encouraging promiscuous sexuality and lack of ideals of romantic love, so that the characters do not impute importance to the activity.[14] In Brave New World, Lenina Crowne confesses to having sexual intercourse with only one man and is encouraged by her friend to be more promiscuous, and in We, "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, depicted by the Junior Anti-Sex League in 1984 and in the film Demolition Man, where the state controls so heavily the lives of its citizens that sexual activity is often an act of rebellion.[15] Similarly, in the PC game Half-life 2 the citizens of City 17, a police state controlled by an invading alien empire called the Combine, are incapable of reproducing due to a 'suppression field' active in the city which prevents the production of certain proteins essential for breeding; the justification for this restriction, according to Earth's Administrator, is that sexuality represents the darker animal instincts which humanity must escape from.[16]

Dystopias dominated by corporations often exploit sexuality for commercial benefit.[17]

Nature

The society frequently isolates the characters from all contact with the natural world. Dystopias are commonly urban,[18] and generally avoid nature, as when walks are regarded as dangerously anti-social in Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. In Brave New World, the lower classes of society are conditioned to be afraid of nature, but also to visit the countryside and consume transportation and games to stabilize society.

Political

Dystopian politics are often characterized as one or several types of governments and political systems. These systems include, but are not limited to, bureaucracy, socialism, communism, chaos, capitalism, fascism, totalitarianism, dictatorships and other forms of political, social and economical control.[19][20] These governments often assert great power over the citizens, dramatically depicted in 1984 as the authority to decree that Two + two = five.[15]

In When the Sleeper Wakes, H. G. Wells depicted the governing class as hedonistic and shallow.[21] George Orwell contrasted this to the world of Jack London's The Iron Heel, where the dystopian rulers are brutal and dedicated to the point of fanaticism, which he considered more plausible;[15] this is, indeed, more typical of dystopias in general.

Utopian politics are often considered as idealistic in practice towards the society in which they are dictated and enacted.[22] Dystopian politics, however, are considered flawed in some way or have negative connotations amongst the inhabitants of the dystopian “world”. Dystopian politics are portrayed as oppressive.

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.[23]

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 Fahrenheit 451, Brazil and THX 1138.

In some dystopian societies, such as that of Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange there is little government control and the people themselves cause chaos: in the videogame Bioshock, based on Objectivist principles, the antagonist Andrew Ryan built an underwater city where "the artist would not fear the censor... where the great would not be constrained by the small", ie. a capitalist utopia. Science, technology, and business were all essentially powered by competition. When Frank Fontaine, a mobster turned businessman, begins to overturn Ryan Industries' domination of the "free" market, however, Ryan panics and begins to use more heavy-handed methods of control, leading to civil war.

Economic

The economic structures of dystopian societies in literature and other media have many variations, as the economy often relates directly to the elements that the writer is depicting as the source of the oppression. However, there are several archetypes that such societies tend to follow.

A commonly occurring theme is that 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. Some dystopias, such as 1984, feature black markets with goods that are dangerous and difficult to obtain, or the characters may be totally at the mercy of the state-controlled economy. Such systems usually have a lack of efficiency, as seen in stories like Philip Jose Farmer's Riders of the Purple Wage, featuring a bloated welfare system in which total freedom from responsibility has encouraged an underclass prone to any form of antisocial behavior. Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano depicts a dystopia in which the centrally controlled economic system has indeed made material abundance plentiful, but deprived the mass of humanity of meaningful labor; virtually all work is menial and unsatisfying, and even very few of the small group that achieves education is admitted to the elite and its work.[24]

Even in dystopias where the economic system is not the source of the society's flaws, as in Brave New World, the state often controls the economy. In Brave New World, a character, reacting with horror to the suggestion of not being part of the social body, cites as a reason that everyone works for everyone else.[25]

Other works feature extensive privatization. In this context, big businesses often have far more control over the populace than any kind of government and thus act as governments themselves instead of businesses, as can be seen in the novel Jennifer Government. This is common in the genre of cyberpunk, such Blade Runner and Snow Crash, which often features corrupt and all-powerful corporations, often a megacorporation.

Characteristics of dystopian fiction

As the overwhelming majority of dystopias are set in projected futures, dystopia is generally considered a subgenre of science fiction.

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 previous systems of government to a government run by 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 classes is generally poorer than in contemporary society (at least in United States or Europe). In 1984, the Inner Party, the upper class of society, also has a standard of living lower than the upper classes of today. 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.

The Hero

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 to his society, 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.

The story usually centers on a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intuitively that something is terribly wrong, such as Winston Smith in 1984, or V from Alan Moore's V for Vendetta. The hero comes to believe that escape or even overturning the social order is possible and decides to act at the risk of life and limb; in some utopias, this may appear as irrational even to him, but he still acts.[26] In Half-life 2, the player's character Gordon Freeman is assigned a messianic status by the oppressed citizens of City 17, and eventually fulfils their hopes by igniting an armed rebellion and deposing the city's Administration. Significantly, Freeman is involuntarily inserted into the dystopian society in secret and is hence nicknamed "the one free man" by the resistance movement, lacking the restrictions imposed by citizenship in City 17. This freedom, the result of his being an outsider, partly allows him to evade the surveillance of the Combine Overwatch, and so contributes to his success in the role of protagonist.[27]

Another popular archetype of hero in the more modern dystopian literature is the Vonnegut hero, a hero who is in high-standing within the social system, but sees how wrong everything is, and attempts to either change the system or bring it down, such as Paul Proteus of Kurt Vonnegut's novel Player Piano.

The Conflict

In many cases, the hero's conflict brings him to a representative of the dystopia who articulates its principles, from Mustapha Mond in Brave New World to O'Brien in 1984.[28]

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 often he or she still fails to change anything. In Orwell's 1984 they are the "proles" (Latin for "offspring", from which "proletariat" is derived), 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.

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 1984. It contrasts with much fiction of the future, in which a hero succeeds in resolving conflicts or otherwise changing things for the better.

Destroying dystopia

The destruction of dystopia is frequently a very different sort of work than one in which it is preserved. Indeed, the subversion of a dystopian society, with its potential for conflict and adventure, is a staple of science fiction stories.[29] 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. In some cases the hero manages to overthrow the dystopia by motivating the (previously apathetic) populace. In the dystopian video game Half-Life 2 the downtrodden citizens of City 17 rally around the figure of Gordon Freeman and overthrow their Combine oppressors.

If destruction of the dystopia 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 legend. 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.

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.

See also

  • Psi-Code and the Eutopia Project [6]

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 19 March 2006, see also [5]
  4. ^ Oxford English Dictionary
  5. ^ 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
  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. ^ Encyclopedia of Utopian Literature. Mary Ellen Snodgrass. p. xii
  8. ^ science fiction. (2007). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved February 1, 2007, from Encyclopedia Britannica Online: http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-235726
  9. ^ William Matter, "On Brave New World" p 95, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  10. ^ Jack Zipes, "Mass Degradation of Humanity" p 189, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  11. ^ William Matter, "On Brave New World" p 94, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  12. ^ Gorman Beauchamp, "Zamiatin's We" p 70, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  13. ^ Eric S. Rabkin, "Avatism and Utopia" p 4-5, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  14. ^ Eric S. Rabkin, "Avatism and Utopia" p 5-6, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  15. ^ a b c William Steinhoff, "Utopia Reconsidered: Comments on 1984" p 147 Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  16. ^ Wikipedia article: Half-life 2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-life_2
  17. ^ Michael Chabon, "The Killer Hook", Maps and Legends p 99 ISBN 978-1-932416-89-3
  18. ^ Eric S. Rabkin, "Avatism and Utopia" p 4, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  19. ^ Moylan, Tom. “ ‘Look into the Dark’: On Dystopia and the Novum”. Learning from New Worlds. Ed. Patrick Parrinder, Durham: Duke University Press, 2001
  20. ^ Kaplan, Carter. “The Advent of Literary Dystopia.” Extrapolation. 40.3 (1999): 200 – 212
  21. ^ William Steinhoff, "Utopia Reconsidered: Comments on 1984" p 153 Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  22. ^ "Utopia." The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 11 February 2007. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Utopia>
  23. ^ 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
  24. ^ Howard P. Segal, "Vonnegut's Player Piano: An Ambiguous Technological Dystopia" p 163, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  25. ^ William Matter, "On Brave New World" p 98, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  26. ^ Gorman Beauchamp, "Zamiatin's We" p 62-3, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  27. ^ Wikipedia article: Gordon Freeman http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Freeman
  28. ^ Gorman Beauchamp, "Zamiatin's We" p 57, Eric S. Rabkin, Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander, No Place Else: Explorations in Utopian and Dystopian Fiction, ISBN 0-8093-1113-5
  29. ^ John Clute and Peter Nicholls, "Dystopia" The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, p 361 ISBN 0-312-13486-X
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