LITR 5737 Literary & Historical Utopias UHCL 2005 midterm opening drafts

Assignment: By noon Tuesday 14 June, email opening sentences of midterm for posting and discussion at 14 June class.

"Utopias in history and literature form a complex genre. Although utopias often introduce ideal lifestyles, they rarely succeed in that which they intend to propose. Several prototypes of utopias have been described throughout history and literature; and the characteristics that define utopias are indicative of cultural expectations, and in some cases, cultural anticipations. I will discuss successes and failures of utopian expectations and anticipations in culture through the examples found in history and literature".

Regarding the books selected for this course, compare and contrast the different kinds of utopias for a literary and historical context. Please do not tell the story of the novel, but try to develop a critical analysis with your comparisions.

Arriving at, or embarking for, Utopia, is essentially an idealistic fantasy that can neither be wholly achieved in practice nor will it reach the state of perfection that lies within the mind. However pure the intentions, an entirely utopian community involves the sort of cooperation that modern day people are not accustomed to giving. Each individual, regardless of their seemingly cooperative and understanding nature in the group, has their own special idea of what a utopia should amount to be. Each individual will inevitably strive toward this personal utopia, making decisions and contributions that reflect their own goals rather than the goals of the group as a whole. The literary utopias we have studied provide a broad spectrum of ideas and their repercussions in the "perfect" society, however, we must remember that these are literary accounts rather than historical. What works wonderfully on! paper, may not work in the real world.

A primary difference between utopian and contemporary American society is the basic family unit. In the utopian society, familial ties are extended throughout the community, making the society itself one large family, thereby eliminating the private, nuclear family. Utopia, Looking Backward, Herland and Anthem’s utopian societies separate children from their biological parents, and place them in the hands of those more qualified to properly raise and educate them. Although the narrative representatives, or powers that be, of these utopian societies could list many valid reasons for this practice, it can be argued that this deconstruction of the nuclear family upsets basic sensibilities of most Americans, and people. Actual utopian societies have also altered the traditional family unit, with little success, perhaps this is why they “always fail.” Because this governmental policy ignores the most base of human emotions, love, it debases the individual, and like Prometheus in Anthem, would eventually lead some to a sense of hopelessness and despair, and the consequent desire to escape the dystopia.

1a. How to define the literary genre of “utopias?” What demarcations and difficulties repeatedly appear?

3e. What social structures, units, or identities does utopia expose, extend, or frustrate? What changes in child-rearing, feeding, marriage, aging, etc. result? (Social units or structures: person-individual, gender, sex, family [nuclear or extended], community, village/town/city, class, ethnicity, farm, region, tribe, clan, union, nation, ecosystem, planet.)

3d. What is the relation of Utopia to America? What problems does the USA’s cultural context present for discussing utopian issues?

The word “utopia” calls to mind two very different ideas. The cynic will lean to the view that a utopia is “no place,” that it is an impossibility and that those who believe in utopias are naïve and simplistic, if not simple-minded. But the more optimistic thinker will see the “good place” of utopia. Utopian literature, therefore, is the literature of the optimist, whereas dystopian literature is the literature of the pessimist. Sir Thomas More, Edward Bellamy, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman represent those writers and thinkers who believe that a better world than the one we live in is possible, and they strive to show us the way. Their writings also act as lights unto the paths of those who attempt to create real world utopias. Even though these creations are problematic, both the literary and real world versions evolve and change in order to succeed.

Utopian concepts repeatedly emerge in both literature and history as mankind ventures forth in his quixotic attempts to achieve a perfect society. As illustrated in More’s Utopia, Bellamy’s Looking Forward, and Gilman’s Herland, the basic elements involve a traveler who arrives in a foreign country, or different time, and who consequently bears witness to a revolutionary, socialistic type of community in which the general good supersedes personal interests.

Utopia. The word is commonly defined as coming from a set of Greek roots meaning “no place,” but to simply define utopia as no place is rather dismissive. If we also consider the word as relating to the Greek roots for “good place,” the meaning deepens.

Before reading these texts I would have defined utopia as a perfect society or world. However, after careful reading of these texts I can only define utopia as an individual's perfect society or world. The perceptions of all the authors differ due to their personal experiences, the society and time in which they lived, and the state of that society. Their perceptions of utopia and our perceptions of utopia will differ greatly because of the changes, no matter how big or small they may seem, that have occurred since the writing of their texts.