LITR 5439 Literary & Historical Utopias
Final Exam Submission 2009
LaKisha Jones
Literature in Fiction
Topic A1: Utopia as Literature
What is fiction? Well, www.Dictionary.com, a subsidiary of www.Ask.com, defines fiction as a class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration. Fiction is an imaginary thing or event, postulated for the purposes of argument or explanation. Topic A1, Utopia as Literature, emphasizes that studying utopias leads to: religious, historical, political, sociological, economical, and gender class discussions. In our course we studied all aspects of traits and characteristics that constitute whether or not a society functions harmoniously, even if it does not mirror our own. Course Objectives 1d and 1e focus on the Utopian Genre (1d) and Utopian Rhetoric (1e). These objectives aided us in developing discussions about utopian authors, and identifying their work beyond traditional literary categories. In addition, we analyzed if utopian literature is actually a form of persuasive literature.
Studying the utopia genre helped me learn a lot about literature and fiction. During our first week in the course we covered Utopia, a 1514 tract-narrative by Sir Thomas More. Although his work was fiction, I learned that this book or narrative was not an actual novel. I was left dumbfounded at this idea. By definition, literature itself is any work of imaginative narration. Utopia fits this definition handsomely; yet, being the very first utopic novel of its time, it is difficult to compare this particular narrative with other literary predecessors. Utopia is a direct reflection of Objective 1d: To identify the author both within and beyond traditional literary categories – as activist, agitator, reformer, prophet, or visionary. More was a visionary and reformer. His Utopia novel went beyond the traditional literary categories, as it created a different genre of literature combined with fiction. What’s more, he not only introduced the term utopia, but inspired a plethora of novelists to use utopic novels to reform social norms or react against such norms in real-life societies. What I now understand is that this genre of fiction aims to question the dystopias in our own societies and rectify them if possible.
Furthermore, Utopias are written primarily for social purposes as evident in the novels Looking Backward (1888) by Edward Bellamy, and Ecotopia (1975) by Ernest Callenbach. In both novels, the authors included basic strategies to keep the “literature” aspect in sight. Both Bellamy and Callenbach wrote with expression and form, coupled with the connection of societal ideals that encompass universal interest. For example, Bellamy discussed the social gap between the rich and the poor in 1887, and how this gap was remedied in the year 2000. In addition, he kept a literary feel to the discussion with characters and dialogues. Bellamy provoked thought in his readers through a topic that we are all still so familiar with and discuss even in the year 2009. Callenbach, following suit a century later, introduced economical issues that would inevitably come pass in the 21st century. Bellamy and Callenbach introduced characters that mirror who we are so that we can readily identify with them and the situations they face. For instance, Julian West in Looking Backward was a character that the people in Western Civilization could identify with. William West, in Ecotopia, is another character we can identify with, but more so the state of the American environment is what we really can relate to. This is evident from our 21st century aim to “Go-Green” in order to save our dying environment.
Finally, literature is written through imagination which generally relates to societal factors. Fiction, an imaginary thing or event, is postulated for argument or explanation. Authors such as More, Bellamy, and Callenbach created settings, plots, themes and characters that mirror many of our own societal crisis in the 21st century, and within the time period in which they were written. Utopian literature allowed me to learn a substantial amount about fiction. Although fiction can be an imaginary event, I have found that all fiction is generally a response to real-life events and human circumstances. Utopian literature specifically, has allowed me the opportunity to think about our own society and how much of a dystopia it is, even if we really don’t think of it as one. What’s more, utopian literature forces the reader to think about dystopias or societal issues in real life, and try to make some sense out of the decisions that we make individually that subsequently, affect the masses and/or our environment. So, is utopian literature a form of persuasive literature? I would imagine so. What we think about when we read utopias is how we can improve our own societies. We question what will work and what will not. Ecotopia focused on the environment and how we were killing nature with our mass production and new-age technology. Now in the 21st century, we are “Going Green.” We are recycling and using recycled goods, using environmental friendly household cleaners, driving Hybrid and Electric cars, downsizing from monster trucks and SUV’s to Toyota Priuses and Smart cars. In addition, we are eating organically and watching how much “trash” we send off to the dumpsites. Therefore literature, especially utopian literature is fictional, but we can categorize it as a form of persuasive literature that focuses on collective efforts to better a rather dystopian society.
Lakisha Jones
Overview Topics Essay
The Frustration and Pleasure of Utopian Literature
The study of Utopian literature can be both frustrating and pleasurable. The quality of utopian literature is very different from other literary forms, because of the content itself. On one hand, utopian literature can be frustrating because it must be made sure that the utopian literature shares the consistency of a novel. In British literature, the only frustrating thing about the poem Beowulf is the language in which it is written. The author does not try to persuade the reader, it is a mere narrative poem. Then there is the argument if utopian literature like Ecotopia is actually a utopian society or literature at all. Yet, utopian literature brings pleasure to the reader in that it provokes thought and discussion in a graduate seminar. Utopian literature is in many ways a frustrating and pleasurable area to study. Utopian literature has been written for a variety of purposes; but, Ecotopia can be thought of as a persuasive form of utopian literature, this is why we are attracted to it, but also why it becomes frustrating. Most utopian literature is written with a defined purpose in mind.
This is supposed to be a utopia? I have asked this question many times during our graduate seminar while discussing various utopian novels. After reading Herland, I was frustrated to find that the novel was full of sexual discrimination. Discrimination is not a utopian quality, and you don’t want discrimination in a utopian society. Looking Backward consisted of a modern-aged 21st century utopian society. Everyone in Looking Backward made the same amount of money as the next family. Government controlled majority of the funding and ability to close the gap between the rich and the poor. The most frustrating thing in this novel is that they tried to enforce equality through pay. To be honest, some careers require more work, attention and time away from family; but, in this supposed utopian society, getting monetary compensation for your hard work is not ideal or rewarded. This is not a utopian society because the natural human condition requires one to want compensation in accordance to how much work they put in. This factor is why we are attracted to these stories, because we hold an opposing view. Majority do not like discrimination in the least. In addition, no one wants to work harder than the next person but receive the same salary.
Furthermore, the Ecotopia novel differs greatly from Herland and Looking Backward in a sense. Ecotopia focuses on the state of the environment rather than monetary compensation and/or celebrity based on the careers that one is in. The most pleasurable thing about Ecotopia is that the community is working for the greater good to build the environment to a natural state. This quality is especially ideal granted the state of our current environment. Therefore, we are attracted to the story of Ecotopia because it reflects concerns that we deal with in real life. We can gather information from this novel that might inevitably help our own society and community. This is where utopian literature being persuasive literature comes into play. Though, what is most frustrating with Ecotopia is that it soon becomes a dystopia for the reader (which is where the feeling of frustration comes in). On one hand you have a community joined by people who make collective efforts to change the state of their environment and the way that they live, yet towards the end they are building communities where sole cultures may inhabit only. Blatant racial discrimination becomes evident in Ecotopia, as it is evident in Herland and Looking Backward. The reader can imply that beyond our greatest efforts collectively, we are still divided culturally. Is this really considered utopian literature, or even a utopian society? In a sense yes, but as we explore further we find that maybe it is not the ideal utopia we want as human beings.
In conclusion, to question whether or not utopian literature is actually real literature is absurd. It is literature because literature is comprised of many written forms. Furthermore, to wonder if it measures up to other forms of literary constructions we find in a graduate seminar is simple to answer with yes. Literature in itself is comprised of writings in which expression and form, in connection with ideas of permanent and universal interest, are characteristic or essential features. We read literature in an effort to understand more about the human thought process and/or to discuss and analyze writings from a different time period, language and people. We find that while studying utopias like Ecotopia, Herland and Looking Backward, we are more apt to think skeptically about the content opposed to another form of literary work like Beowulf. Beowulf is nothing more than a long and drawn out narrative poem. But, when we discuss the literary quality of Ecotopia, we are more critical and skeptical about the work because the author has informally or formally told us that this is be the path to reach a utopian society. Beowulf doesn’t require this type of discussion and frustration. Therefore, utopian literature becomes an interesting topic of discussion only because our opposing view comes into play. In a graduate seminar it is especially important to focus on the reactions of students regarding a literary piece of work, and utopian literature allows us to react because it discusses the human condition.