LITR 5439 Literary & Historical Utopias
Presentation
Book 2 Utopia Discussion
June 11, 2015
Russ Lanier
1.
What problems with characterization does
utopian fiction generate?
-
Answer: At first glance it seems to
propose that all “utopian communities and people lack diversity”.
Images projected of sameness and lack of
imagination.
People within these so called utopia’s are
either portrayed as mindless and intellectually inept.
Usually demonstrating weakness in leadership
skills.
Growing up in the deep south and from a strong
Christian (Baptist) background, these utopian values were mostly associated with
cults which were easily portrayed by
movies, TV and news reports.
Examples: Jonestown 1978, Manson’s hippie
commune and The Branch Davidians (Waco).
Loss of identity or individualism
2.
What
conventions or set-pieces typify the utopian genre?
-
Answer: Inequality usually remains
the catalyst to developing utopian communities or ideals.
In some settings, the utopian environment
usually consists of small communities set in some other world far away from the
dystopian environments generations once created prone to violence and misdeeds
towards vulnerable populations.
-
Other set pieces or
expectations that are popular in utopian fictional genres are:
o
Economic systems that favor equality or equal
distribution of wealth are common.
Work production in More’s Utopia the principal
production of agriculture is the main stay which feeds everyone and surplus is
sold to foreign markets for exchange of gold and silver.
o
Education and Intellectual growth are a valued ideal
shared by most communities.
However there is evidence that certain utopian
cultures limit this knowledge capacity as they (hierarchical systems) recognize
that could cause dissension among the lower populace once they start critical
thinking pathways and question the will of its chosen few.
Philosophy in Utopia promotes
“reason” as the foundation for all knowledge (Socratic pedagogical concepts).
As with anything pleasure is the goal of life
3. Utopia's most threatening reforms may be
abolition of private property, and reshaping of family relations. Are these two
proposals related? Is family a form of property?
-
Answer: In Utopia, Hythloday describes how the family
unit (which consists of 30 family members) which are headed by one leader
(Syhogrant).
Marriage is encouraged and honored.
Divorce is permissible.
There is slavery but only from people who
committed crimes or prisoners captured from foreign lands.
Question or things that may make you go hummmmm….
If this world, or more in
particular the US is falling into some dystopian chaos, what do you think is
driving it?
Here is an idea that is one of the reasons why: