Michael Luna

Creating Your Own Utopian Project

          The world needs utopian literature. It is as simple as that. While I was not a believer at first, I gladly state that I converted to the power of the utopian genre as literature. Before I exposed myself to this style of writing, I had thought of utopian literature as trite and something that belonged in the upper atmosphere along with cloud nine. This was before I actually read real utopian literature. Like many out there, I have been constantly bombarded by dystopian stories, as they are an everyday part of our educational lives. What I did not realize was that utopian literature could clarify ideas as well as add to the discussion in any literature-based classroom. Having had this experience with utopian literature, teaching this style of literature is of great interest now. For too long, schools have focused primarily on the dystopian novel with little, if any, regard to its polar opposite. However, utopian literature offers quite a plethora of resources for literature and for the classroom.

          The hardest part of introducing utopian literature to a classroom is going to be in convincing students or administrators that utopian stories are a form a literature. Often, schools will side with dystopian stories as they hold to the model of a novel, while utopian stories tend to be more informative and do not have much of a conflict involved. Yet, the topics that brought up in utopian literature are astounding since these topics are still relevant today and serve as a basis for essays and further study. Something else to consider is that utopian literature is fiction, and fiction is a large part of the curriculum in the high school level. Utopian stories also contain realism and can involve science fiction aspects as well, which allows utopian literature to be addressed in different areas of study.  Utopian stories are going to have a drawback and that is the tendency for utopian literature to come across as propaganda. However, with the right technique and an objective teacher, this negative can be turned into a positive.

I have taught Ayn Rand’s Anthem in the past and this is a story that is full of propaganda, yet this is an easy hurdle to overcome. The story is also one that centers on a man who is trying to gain his individuality. Many would not consider Anthem as a utopian story, but there is no denial that the society created by the World Council is supposed to be a utopia. There is order, no crime, no prejudice and everybody treats their fellow humans as brothers or sisters. This is exactly what a utopian society is about. This is also an excellent book to talk about the dark side of a utopia. It is true that people want the best living situation for themselves, but how do we go about to achieve it? Do we segregate from others so “those people” will not pollute our way of life? Do we eliminate emotion so there is only rationalized thought when making decisions? These are concepts that are introduced in Anthem and these topics are excellent for young minds to consider as they develop during their high school years. Anthem even includes romance and satire as the main character consistently finds fault in the system that he lives in and he finds a woman that he falls in love with. This one story has already combined a utopia, dystopia, romance and satire and the story is barely one hundred pages in length.

          A professional educator should make it a goal to include any type of literature that is available and the utopian genre is one that should not be left out. This genre allows for a variety of discussion topics, which are slightly touched when teaching dystopian literature. Utopian stories, such as Herland and Utopia introduce the reader to concepts that they may not have thought about previously. These stories bring up the possibilities in science, geology and societal norms. In Herland, the women in Herland give birth through a process known as parthenogenesis. I teach high school English and I can safely say that many students are ignorant of this process of creation. I cannot say with authority that it is not talked about in the science classes but it is never touched in an English class. This topic alone would spark an interesting conversation in any high school classroom let alone an English class. Some students may suddenly become interested and no longer see their English class as just a place to read boring books. This scientific concept crosses different curricula and can create the want to do research of whether or not parthenogenesis is possible in humans. Many students also grow up with the understanding that our society is a patriarch. Men are usually in positions of power and men often dictate what is going to occur in many settings. Yet, Gilman Perkins creates a society in which women run everything and the men look like troglodytes by comparison. One can only imagine how a young female may change her perspective on the world after reading a story empowering women that was written at a time before women could legally vote.

          Sir Thomas More’s Utopia is perhaps the originator of all utopian stories. This may also be one of the hardest stories to teach in any classroom, but knowledge of it can help to understand why other authors have chosen to write about utopian ideology. His story is full of social situations that may seem strange to a modern reader and this is what provides a prime opportunity to teach about the concept of a utopian society. In More’s world, a man named Utopus decided to separate his land from the rest by having a fifteen mile long channel dug into the ground. While this is realistic with machinery and technology today, how possible was this in the 16^th century? How long would an endeavor such as that have taken? There are other subjects brought out in Utopia that will cause hesitation in the classroom. One of these subjects is that of marriage. While an ethics teacher may be able to talk about this subject, it would be very difficult to talk about how both the men and women are presented in the nude before they are wed or how anyone who defiles the marriage bed will then become a slave. This may seem as though it is a taboo subject, but there are countless possibilities in learning from this subject. One possible way around this roadblock would be to ask how relationships are portrayed in literature or to use the standby of whether or not this is propaganda. Think of the possible answers that young minds would create.

          What function can utopian literature serve other than adding another book to the classroom? Concepts such as millennialism, Socratic dialogue and political ideology present themselves in utopian literature. This arrival will open new pathways for learning in a cross-curricular manner as well as provide new areas of discussion. Students who are tired of the same routine of story that is full of archetypes will be able to delve into discussions that can have logical answers rather than an answer that is usually supported by how the information is interpreted. It is hard to try to draw something deep from a story such as “A Rose for Emily” because there is not much depth to it. This story is interesting, yet there are themes that the average high school reader notices. Utopian literature presents themes that average high school readers can understand as these themes relate to the everyday world.

          Utopian stories are a part of literature and it is quite possible to teach utopian literature in the high school level. Should utopian texts push aside the standard dystopian text? No. Rather, it would be best to teach these two styles congruently. This will allows students and teachers who are new to utopian literature to understand how much information is gained from these stories. Stories such as Brave New World, 1984 and Lord of the Flies are always taught in high school classrooms. While these stories do have their appeal because the audience sees the struggle and can relate, how much can be gained from trying to understand William Weston’s slow indoctrination into Ecotopia? Which female character would a high school student say she is most like in Herland? Are the rules of marriage in Utopia the most logical to follow? These are difficult but enriching subjects to think about for high school students as it breaks from the monotonous tradition of sticking to the lonely character in his or her dystopian existence. It will take some time to get students and teachers adjusted to a new regiment of books, but it will be worth it in the end. Students will become familiar with a type of literature that is not taught in high school, teachers will be able to add new arsenal to their repertoire and parents may find that their students are discussing subjects that require deeper thinking that just “who are you most like in this story?”