Dystopia

For other uses, see Dystopia (disambiguation).

Life in Kowloon Walled City has often inspired the dystopian identity in modern media works.[1]

A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ (dus) 'bad' and τόπος (tópos) 'place'), also called a cacotopia[2] or anti-utopia, is a community or society that is extremely bad or frightening.[3][4] It is often treated as an antonym of utopia, a term that was coined by Sir Thomas More and figures as the title of his best known work, published in 1516, which created a blueprint for an ideal society with minimal crime, violence, and poverty. The relationship between utopia and dystopia is in actuality, not one of simple opposition, as many dystopias claim to be utopias and vice versa.[5][6][7]

Dystopias are often characterized by fear or distress,[3] tyrannical governments, environmental disaster,[4] or other characteristics associated with a cataclysmic decline in society. Themes typical of a dystopian society include: complete control over the people in a society through the usage of propaganda and police state tactics, heavy censoring of information or denial of free thought, worshiping an unattainable goal, the complete loss of individuality, and heavy enforcement of conformity.[8] Despite certain overlaps, dystopian fiction is distinct from post-apocalyptic fiction, and an undesirable society is not necessarily dystopian. Dystopian societies appear in many fictional works and artistic representations, particularly in historical fiction, such as A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens, Quo Vadis? by Henryk Sienkiewicz, and A Man for All Seasons (1960) by Robert Bolt, stories set in the alternate history timelines, like Robert Harris' Fatherland (1992), or in the future. Famous examples set in the future included Robert Hugh Benson's Lord of the World (1907), Yevgeny Zamyatin's We (1920), Aldous Huxley's Brave New World (1932), George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949), and Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 (1953). Dystopian societies appear in many sub-genres of fiction and are often used to draw attention to society, environment, politics, economics, religion, psychology, ethics, science, or technology. Some authors use the term to refer to existing societies, many of which are, or have been, totalitarian states or societies in an advanced state of collapse. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case scenario, often make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or political system.[9]

  1. ^ Girard, Greg; Lambot, Ian (2014). City of Darkness Revisited. Somerset: Watermark. ISBN 9781873200889.
  2. ^ Rusen, Jorn; Rüsen, Jörn; Fehr, Michael; Rieger, Thomas (2005). Thinking Utopia: Steps into Other Worlds. Berghahn Books. ISBN 978-1-57181-440-1.
  3. ^ a b "Definition of "dystopia"". Merriam-Webster. 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Definition of "dystopia"". Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. 2012. Archived from the original on 14 May 2013.
  5. ^ "Dystopia – Examples and Definition of Dystopia as a Literary Device". Literary Devices. 6 July 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  6. ^ "Utopia vs. Dystopia" (PDF). Okanogan School District.
  7. ^ "The Fine Line between Utopia and Dystopia | The Prolongation of Work". sites.williams.edu. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  8. ^ "Dystopias & Utopias: Dystopias". Miami Dade College Learning Resources.
  9. ^ Read Write Think (2006). "Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics" (PDF). Read Write Think. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 September 2010.