Dystopia Literature
Name – Janvi Nakum
Paper – History of English
Roll no- 11
Enrollment no – 4069206420210020
Email id – janvinakum360@gmail.com
Batch-2021-2023 (M.A. Sem – 2 )
Submitted to – S.B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
What Is Dystopia?
A utopia is the idea of a perfect society. The Garden of Eden from the Bible is a good example of what a utopia is supposed to be, meaning free from sickness, pain, poverty, etc. A dystopia, on the other hand, is a term used to describe a society that seems perfect on the surface, but wherein there is actually a great amount of injustice and a lack of freedom. Dystopian societies are typically characterized by oppression, fear, and hopelessness, even if the characters do not realize it at first. Additionally, a dystopian novel will often show a rebel rising up against the authority/government in order to return things to how they should be, but their success is not a given in this genre.
One very famous example of dystopian literature is Animal Farm by George Orwell, in which he creates an allegory of the Russian Revolution using animals on a farm. He details how what starts as a utopian idea (communism) eventually devolves and is revealed as a dystopia.
• Characteristics of Dystopia
Books or stories within the genre of dystopian fiction usually share several of the same characteristics:
An extremely strong governing body with little to no checks or balances. The government in dystopian fiction has complete control and portrays themselves as beloved through the use of extensive propaganda and by silencing any opponents through any means necessary.
A governing body that controls all religious, political, and economic elements in that society as well as the punishment for not following the rules associated with these elements. Often there is no religion or worship allowed in these societies as that would be a direct challenge to the authority of the government. There are no political parties because that would imply that the ruling party is not fully supported by all citizens.
Similarly, the government is in control of all economic policy and information in order to assure all citizens that they are being treated fairly, when in fact there is typically a select few who hoard the resources and leave the rest of society in poverty.
While the entire society in a dystopia is typically failing or corrupt, there is often a single figurehead who epitomizes the values of that society. This figurehead must appear to be infallible and act swiftly and without mercy in the face of any opposition in order to maintain the image of complete control. This control is often sold to the public as the price of "peace."
Extreme propaganda that is considered the norm in society, often times so pervasive that citizens do not realize they are being oppressed. This propaganda is designed to make citizens believe that the government is working for them, that they are living in total equality with all other citizens, and that there is no better way to live.
Individuality being looked at as an aberration and a danger to society. Citizens are taught to shame anyone who does not follow the societal norms and not to associate with people who speak out against the government or any single policy because they are a "danger" to the peace and order of their environment.
Citizens that are made to put on a "show" of sorts in order to comply with dystopian societal norms. Members of society are praised and given superficial rewards for falling in line and exemplifying the "right" way to live and being role models for others. This encourages overt displays of compliance.
• The Rise of Dystopian Literature
It’s the same appeal as Game of Thrones fan theories: you know that no one’s got it exactly right, but it makes you wonder how much of it might be right. Yevgeny Zamyatin’s We, along with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World and George Orwell’s 1984 are widely considered the original holy trinity of the dystopian genre. All three feature protagonists locked within repressive totalitarian societies who try, often in vain, to work against them. These texts set up many of the tropes that would later go on to inform other great books like Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 and Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. But why has there been sucha recent spike in the sales and new publications of dystopias? Why does the genre continue to endure?
From Atwood to Bradbury to Suzanne Collins and Veronica Roth , there seems to be a never-ending stream of new dystopias hitting the market.
On one level, that’s because they can be damn good fun. Who doesn’t love reading about Katniss going to town with a bow and arrow or wildly erratic theories about how technology is going to develop in the future? The teen fiction scene has hugely embraced dystopia and for good reason: alternate futures make the books socially relevant but open to embellishment; grounded in current fears but able to wildly exaggerate them.
In spite of the more fun aspect to some of these novels, one thing that every dystopia shares is a nihilism about the future. This in part seems to be a wider social attitude emerging out of the two World Wars and various other historic, horrific encounters that have since come to pass. For example, Orwell novelized the widespread fears of totalitarian rule in the aftermath of World War Two; Huxley satirised the utopian novels of H. G. Wells in the early 1930’s. These writers were living in a time where fears of perpetual war and the control of hostile, omnipotent governments were at a breaking point.
There’s a reason we haven’t seen a significant rise in the utopian novel.
We live in dark times; it’s certainly easy for writers to imagine our futures turning out even darker Though, I think the reason the genre has kept going as long as it has is because of just how right the first dystopias turned out to be. In Brave New World, Huxley basically predicted with exact precision the developments of human cloning and hypnopaedia. In 1984: Orwell literally wrote about “telescreens”, which broadcast information as well as act as monitoring devices with microphones. If that isn’t a stellar prediction of the modern computer, I don’t know what is. These works have endured and produced new works consistently, because they are still, and perhaps always will be, culturally relevant. For example, there was a huge spike in the sales of 1984 on Amazon after Trump’s campaign advisor Kellyanne Conway famously coined the phrase “alternative facts” in 2017. Dystopias are often characterized by a distrust in the truth; it’s really a no-brainer why such an absurd and bizarre statement fed back into the sales of a dystopian novel.
While human beings have always lived without a collective trust in systems of power and perhaps even, in human nature, the last 100 years have seen a particular nihilism towards the systems of repression, rebellion and interaction that govern our lives. Dystopian novels continue to be a major driving point of the literary canon because the systems of oppression they theories are based on real concerns, real events, real governments. And they will continue to garner interest because at the heart of every dystopian novel lurks a question in the back of every reader’s mind: this might be fiction… but what if it becomes my reality?
• Examples of Central Themes in Dystopian Literature
Dystopian literature tends to feature common, central themes that allow writers to create alternate realities while imparting deep meaning to their readers. Here are some examples of central themes in dystopian literature:
government control: dystopian works often reflect extremes in terms of governmental rule, from oppressive totalitarianism to violent anarchy.
environmental destruction: dystopian stories are typically set in “apocalyptic” environments that reflect destruction of life and an uninhabitable landscape, usually as a result of war and weaponry technological control: dystopian works often reflect advancements in science and technology that grow out of human control and become domineering and fear-inducing
survival: characters in dystopian literature are often left to their own means of survival due to oppressive or violent societies.
loss of individualism: dystopian literature often emphasizes the needs of society and conformity at the expense of individual freedom and expression
Examples of Famous Dystopian Novels
Many writers use the novel form to create dystopian literature. This allows for detailed development of the setting, characters, plot, and theme so that readers can enjoy the story but also consider the novel’s levels of social commentary. The popularity of dystopian literature reflects a collective human curiosity about the future and progress of society.
Here are some examples of famous dystopian novels:
brave new world
The Giver
1984
Ready Player One
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
Parable of the Sower
The Drowned World
The Maze Runner
The City of Ember
Common Examples of Well-Known Dystopian Movies
Many dystopian movies are created as adaptations of dystopian literature, although there are original dystopian scripts that are made into films as well. This genre of filmmaking is popular among audiences due to the artistic and cinematic portrayal of alternate realities as well as thought-provoking content.
Reference
https://study.com/learn/lesson/dystopian-society-characteristics.html
https://exepose.com/2019/05/03/the-rise-of-dystopian-literature/
https://literarydevices.net/dystopia
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