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Dystopia

(Redirected from Dystopic)

A dystopia (or alternatively cacotopia or kakotopia) is a fictional society, usually portrayed as existing in a future time, when the conditions of life are extremely bad due to deprivation, oppression, or terror. Science fiction, particularly post-apocalyptic science fiction and cyberpunk, often feature dystopias. Social critics, especially postmodern social critics, also use the term "dystopian" to condemn trends in post-industrial society they see as negative.

In most dystopian fiction, a corrupt government creates or sustains the poor quality of life, often conditioning the masses to believe the society is proper and just, even perfect. Most dystopian fiction takes place in the future but often purposely incorporates contemporary social trends taken to extremes. Dystopias are frequently written as warnings, or as satires, showing current trends extrapolated to a nightmarish conclusion.

Contents

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term was coined in the late 19th century by British philosopher John Stuart Mill, who also used Jeremy Bentham's synonym, cacotopia. The prefix caco- means "bad". Both words were created to contrast utopia, a word coined by Sir Thomas More to describing an ideal place or society. Utopia combined the Greek-derived ou ("no") + topos ("place"). Dystopia combined the dys, Greek word for "bad" or "negative" with topos. Thus, meaning "bad place".

As some writers have noted, however, the difference between a Utopia and a Dystopia can often lie in the visitor's point of view: one person's heaven can be another's hell.

Common traits of dystopian fiction

The following is a list of common traits of dystopias, although it is by no means definitive. Most dystopian films or literature include at least a few of the following:

  • a hierarchical society where divisions between the upper, middle and lower class are definitive and unbending (Caste system).
  • a nation-state ruled by an upper class with few democratic ideals
  • state propaganda programs and educational systems that coerce most citizens into worshipping the state and its government, in an attempt to convince them into thinking that life under the regime is good and just
  • strict conformity among citizens and the general assumption that dissent and individuality are bad
  • a fictional state figurehead that people worship fanatically through a vast personality cult, such as 1984’s Big Brother or We‘s The Benefactor
  • a fear or disgust of the world outside the state
  • a common view of traditional life, particularly organized religion, as primitive and nonsensical
  • a penal system that lacks due process laws and often employs psychological or physical torture
  • constant surveillance by state police agencies
  • the banishment of the natural world from daily life
  • a back story of a natural disaster, war, revolution, uprising, spike in overpopulation or some other climactic event which resulted in dramatic changes to society
  • a standard of living among the lower and middle class that is generally poorer than in contemporary society
  • a protagonist who questions the society, often feeling intrinsically that something is terribly wrong
  • because dystopian literature takes place in the future, it often features technology more advanced than that of contemporary society

To have an effect on the reader, dystopian fiction typically has one other trait: familiarity. It is not enough to show people living in a society that seems unpleasant. The society must have echoes of today, of the reader's own experience. If the reader can identify the patterns or trends that would lead to the dystopia, it becomes a more involving and effective experience. Authors can use a dystopia effectively to highlight their own concerns about societal trends. For example, some commentators say that George Orwell originally wanted to title 1984 1948, because he saw the world he describes emerging in austere postwar Europe.

Examples of dystopian literature

For a longer list see Category:Dystopian novels

Examples of dystopian films

For a longer list see Category:Dystopian films.

Other Examples of dystopia

In music:

In television:

  • Sliders, Fox, 1995-1997, Sci Fi Channel 1998-2000. Team of three or four people travel ("slide", hence the title) between dimensions, to alternate Earths, where history has taken a slightly different path. Most of these alternate Earths were, in one way or another, dystopian.
  • Doctor Who, BBC, 1963-present. The series has featured many storylines set in dystopian times and places, ranging from the war-torn planet Skaro in the 1974 story Genesis of the Daleks to the world of Terra Alpha in 1987's The Happiness Patrol in which sadness is punishable by death, ironically by the ingestion of sweets so tasty that they are deadly.

In games

See also

Last updated: 05-13-2005 07:56:04