Utopia

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Modernism is variously argued to be a period, style, genre or combination or these; but it is first of all a word; one which exists along side cognate words. Modernism was first used in the early eighteen century simply to denote trends, characteristics of modern times, while in the nineteenth century itÐŽ¦s meaning encompassed sympathy with modern options, styles or expressions. In the later part of the nineteenth century Modernism referred to progressive trends in the Catholic Church. In literature it surfaced in Thomas HardyÐŽ¦s Tess of the dÐŽ¦urbervilles (1891), to denote what he called a general and unwelcomed creeping industrial ÐŽ§ ache of modernismЎЁ.

Modernism, as an international art term covers the many avant-garde styles and movements that proliferated under the names of Expressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism, Dadaism, Vorticism, Formalism and in writing, if not painting, Impressionism. It forbears were Darwin, Marx and Nietzsche; its intellectual guru was Freud.

Typical aspects of modernist writing are radical aesthetics, technical experimentation, spatial or rhythmic rather than chronological form, self-conscious reflexiveness, sceptism towards the idea of a central subject and a sustained inquiry into the uncertainty of reality. Modernism can be taken as a response by artists and writers to several things, including industrialisation, urban society, war, technological change and new philosophical ideas.

Technological changes meant that modernism was an art of a rapidly transforming world of industrial development, mechanisation, urbanisation, secularisation and mass forms of social interaction. In fiction new writers spearheaded a rejection of several of the fundamentals of classical realism.

This rejection of classical realism and the technological changes in modernism is effectively reflected in one of its powerful aspect called Science Fiction „o a special literary genre, different from other imaginative and fantastic literatures.

Science Fiction is a term that would seem to be contradictory as Science is the search of truth and Fiction is a creation or the imagination and yet science fiction is still a part of reality.

Science Fiction may be defined in general terms as a branch of literature that deals with the response of people to growth in science and technology. But there is always disagreement among critics regarding its definition and all of the many definitions offered by critics have been contradicted or modified by other critics and it is always possible to point out to texts consensually called Science Fiction that fall outside the usual definitions.

Damon Knight says that, ÐŽ§ Science Fiction is what we point to when we say it;ЎЁ and Norman Spinraid argues that, ÐŽ§ Science Fiction is anything published as science fictionЎЁ. The Oxford English dictionary which has been accepted as a general definitions by most of the writers, defines Science fiction as ÐŽV ÐŽ§imaginative fiction based on postulated scientific discoveries or spectacular environmental changes, frequently set in the future or on other planets and involving space or time travelЎЁ.

The Oxford dictionary along with the definition adds on, that the term Science Fiction or SF did not come into common usage until the 1920ÐŽ¦s for the date is important too.

Novels and stories written in what is generally known as science fiction were certainly produced before the 1920ÐŽ¦s „o for example, in the late 19th century by writers such as H.G.Wells and Jules Verne. Some criticism asserts that the first SF story comes from even earlier than that but they were specific and sometimes one ÐŽV off examples of imaginative fiction. It was not until 1920ÐŽ¦s that these sorts of writing became identified as belonging to a family of literature „o Science Fiction.

Books that deal with any of the following subjects, themes, trappings or props are liable to be thought of as science fiction: Spaceships, Interplanetary or Interstellar travel; Aliens and the encounter with aliens; Mechanicals robots; Genetic engineering, Biological robots or Androids; Computers; Advanced Technology, Virtual reality; Time travel; Alternative history and the most striking elements, Utopia and Dystopia.

Utopia and Dystopia are two contradictory elements of Science Fiction, yet both of them deal with the human future, but their way of approach is entirely opposite. For Utopia, is a place where all is well; A world state: international government; central bureaucracy; state-controlled land; population controlled etc., exists. It is often ruled by a voluntary ЎҐnobilityÐŽ¦ called SAMURAI ÐŽV the equivalent of PlatoÐŽ¦s guardian philosopher. But in recent years, we are told, that writers have seen the possibility of utopia approaching, but in the form of Dictatorships, Welfare states, Planned economies and all manner of bureaucracies, and they have become disillusioned. Thus the anti ÐŽV utopias seem a phenomenon of our contemporary world, no older perhaps than the government of Hitler, Stalin and Roosevelt.

Anti ÐŽV Utopia is nothing but Dystopia „o a chiliastic forecast of the doom awaiting mankind, a place marked by extreme mechanization or authoritarianism. A Dystopian depiction can be described as a dark vision of the future. That is hardly a satisfactory definition, though. Unfortunately, the different definitions that are available are not as congruent as one might wish. A few examples: -

ÐŽ§ An imagery, wretched place, the opposite of utopiaЎЁ (CasselÐŽ¦s concise English dictionary). ÐŽ§An imaginary place where people lead dehumanised an often fearful livesЎЁ, (Merriam- Webster).

Though the definitions are numerous in number the meaning remains the same.

It is truism that one of the most revealing indexes of dystopian fictions is that their similarity in describing nightmare states where men are conditioned to obedience, freedom is eliminated, and individuality crushed; where the past is from nature; where science and technology are employed, not to enrich human life, but to maintain the state close watch and control of its slave citizens.

Just as utopian or utopian fiction provide only a standard of comparison for admonitory or satirical purposes, against which the real world can be measured, so too, do Dystopian fictions in the literal meaning of the term „o indeed except for satires, there are very few dystopian fictions in existence.

One of the first recorded uses in dystopian sense was by John Stuart Mill, in a parliamentary speech in 1868. After