Amy Sasser

Dear Diary:

A Look at One Student’s Experiences of Utopia

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Dear Diary,

     My books arrived today for my summer course with Dr. White. I think I’ll start reading the longer one, Oryx & Crake, right away. I hope he starts the class out with really defining what a utopia is, as I once again find myself kind of at a loss. It’s crazy to be a literature major and have almost everyone you talk to seem more well-read than you. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a utopian novel. . . . Oh, well, first time for everything, right?

     I guess for now, I can kind of start thinking about what a utopia is, though. As far as I know, it’s supposed to be perfection, some sort of paradise where everyone lives together in peace and happiness. Kind of sounds a bit hippie-ish and, well, ultimately, impossible. I mean, how can you have a whole group of different, individual people who don’t have conflict or arguments? I can’t even find that in my little family of seven!

     I think the closest thing I can think of off-hand is Star Trek. They have a world where the members of the Federation are peaceful and cooperative even though they’re from all kinds of different species. They don’t require or use money in any conventional sense. You don’t see any unhealthy people on Star Trek: everyone is thin and toned, and they’ve beaten huge diseases like cancer as well as annoyances like the common cold. Everyone always has enough food and clothing, and they always seem to have the time and availability (especially with holodecks) to pursue their own interests. Of course, as I write this, I think that these statements only hold true for the elite few, the members of the Federation. This uber-militaristic vision of the future promises all these good things, but it seems that almost every episode has them being thwarted in pursuing these goals or encountering a “backward” civilization that fails to get with the program. Does that make Star Trek an argument against utopias? I guess I’ll have to look into that more once we’ve begun the class.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Dear Diary,

     I received an email from Dr. White today which directs us to the course website. The syllabus and course objectives are listed there, as well as lots of other useful information. He recommended we start with Oryx & Crake, but says that we won’t be examining it until later in the semester. I’ve gotten about halfway through the book, but I’m going to put it down now and start reading on the first actual assignment that is due the second day of class.

     As to what I have read of Oryx & Crake, I was having a very hard time understanding how that was a utopia. However, after reviewing the site, I realized it is a dystopia. To some extent, I’ve been able to expand my own understanding of the word “utopia” to include its antithesis, the dystopia. I’ve also seen through the site that several other famous works qualify as either dystopian or utopian. I haven’t read many of them in the past, but I am excited to increase my exposure as we move forward. I think my biggest issue in reaching a definition is going to be deciding where something crosses the line from utopia to some other intersecting literary genre, like sci-fi (think my earlier Star Trek reference), fantasy, tract, essay and so forth. I will pay particular attention to that as we move forward.

     I’ve been wondering why people would choose to study utopias. It is not generally one of the “mentioned” genres or areas of study we hear about in literature. There’s romanticism, feminism, pre- and post-restoration British works, American lit, rhetoric—all common classes—but utopia is just not something I’ve really heard about before. I think it might be because it seems like there’s not an awful lot of it. I see tons of dystopian literature, especially after looking at the course objectives site and seeing all the familiar titles already out there. Maybe this is a useful pursuit because of the sheer difficulty of defining it in the first place. After all, my idea of utopia might be completely contrary to yours, so how do we list what elements are necessary and which aren’t. For example, maybe equality in money and economics is extremely important for me to accept a utopian worldview, but you couldn’t care less and find no reason that to be a concern. I will have to ask Dr. White how to move beyond these divisions into a more cohesive definition that works universally.

     Another thing that it looks like we’ll be talking about is how the narrative works in a utopian story. If the people all get along, where is the conflict that we expect in a good book? I suspect it will be found in outside forces, and I’ll keep that in mind as I read the first few things on the list.

     Our first reading is Sir Thomas More’s Utopia, written in 1516. I will get right on that and report back. . . .

Monday, June 3, 2013

Dear Diary,

Today was the first day of class. I admit that I was surprised by one grand concept we discussed, as it has particular interest to me personally. I had not considered all the attempts we see every day to actually create a utopia here and now. “Intentional communities” are groupings of like-minded people seeking to self-identify and somehow, in at least a limited fashion, withdraw from society as a whole to pursue their own ideas of a perfect lifestyle. Far from being a cult, these groups merely want a better life than the generalized every day ebb and flow of modern suburbia.

     So, why does that interest me? Well, it sounds just like what we are trying to do with our friends! We want to find a way for my family of seven to combine with their family of five, where we might all live together harmoniously. We ideally would like one large house with a centralized kitchen, homework/computer stations, and media/entertainment areas, while maintaining a separate “wing” for each family with bedrooms and bathrooms. Our reasons for this are deep and varied, but at the heart of it, we hold the same core beliefs, and we want to carve out our own little slice of Heaven while we’re here on Earth. We want to share the burdens and responsibilities of household duties, but also the joys and pains of our chosen family members in addition to our biological ones. I had not considered that this goal of becoming a sort of mini intentional community could tie in with a utopia, but now I see that it can. I am excited to look further and see how this class can help me directly envision my longed-for future.

     As to the More reading, I think I was right about the conflict arising from an outsider. More is somewhat tedious to read, but then again, so is most work from that distant of a past. Before this class, I had not realized that the saint had coined the term “utopia,” or that he was so influential in developing a working definition.

     My own understanding of the term is narrowing, but if asked for a strict definition today, I know I would still have a hard time obliging. I am beginning to recognize some of the conventions of the genre, and I find myself thinking back to books read in the past to see if they contain those utopian or dystopian ideals. I am beginning to slot all recent works into categories: utopian, dystopian, or neither.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Dear Diary,

     We’ve finished reading Herland, and I can confirm my earlier suspicion about the outside viewpoint becoming the conflict in a utopian story. After the chore of reading More, Gilman was a delight, though her tendency toward hyperbole and extended explanations could become taxing at times. Her focus on a harmonious society living peacefully away from the world would have been boring if it were just one of the residents reporting how their lives work rather than someone from outside the group to whom these ways are curious, and at times, even threatening. Many of the standard conventions are present in the novel. The men take a journey, becoming the intruders into an unknown setting. They tend toward almost Socratic dialogue in their efforts to learn about this new land. There is a narrative plot, though it is somewhat weak, of the men finding mates amongst this group of women, each challenging his own values in different ways.

     I am almost embarrassed to say I’ve never read Anthem before, but I look forward to seeing how it will fit into my own definition of utopia.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Dear Diary,

     Anthem was amazing. I only had to finish the first two chapters, but I found I couldn’t stop reading, and I finished the entire story in one sitting. This dystopian example literally sheds light on the utopian ideal, and helps me further understand the standard features and conventions of these works. It also brought me back to thinking more about how this utopian ideal crosses so easily into other genres. You can see elements of utopia in sci-fi, post-apocalyptic, steampunk, fantasy, and even preternatural fiction works.

     Utopia seems to have tendrils and roots that encompass so much more, and I feel I’ve only scratched the surface so far.

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Dear Diary,

     I believe I have finally developed my own definition of utopia. It is a bit simplistic, but as the concept looms large, I realize it must be because so much else goes into it. Utopia is a genre evidenced in both literary works and our human history in which perfection of a sort is sought. In seeking this perfection, however, questions continually arise which force you to rethink your understanding of the term, making the idea of utopia an enigmatic amoeba that must be responsive to change as needed to work toward meeting that goal.

     If my own experimental community becomes a reality, I wonder how well my documenting it here in this diary (like Weston in Ecotopia) will fit in with those genre conventions in literature. Instead of being told from the point of view of an outsider, the story would be told from my own personal perspective as one involved in the journey. I know there will be some measure of conflict, even though we are working toward a common goal. I expect there will also be some friction as we try to explain the whys of it all to family, friends, and the world at large. I don’t suspect we will adhere to the ideal utopian settings of the garden representing the lush and verdant possibilities of a beauteous future; however, I know my friends all garden better than I do, so we might get that garden after all. We will have to work out separate systems for many things, from laundry and dinnertime responsibilities to paying bills equitably and managing the schedules of twelve different people. It will be a chore, to be sure, but I fully believe it will be worth it to try to find our joy, our ideal right here and right now.