Talk:Utopian and dystopian fiction

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Contents

[edit] Alphaville

Should a reference to Alphaville be included here?

Sure, be bold! Go ahead and add it! -Seth Mahoney 00:36, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] More's "Utopia"

The society outlined in More's book is not meant to be his "perfect society." He specifically says in the last lines of the work that he does not agree with everything that goes on in Utopia. In addition, his attached letter to Peter Giles as much as says that he is merely using the piece to "drop pointed hints" about Europena society at the time. More's presentation of his "Utopia" is meant only as a platform from which to discuss social issues. I feel that, as is, this wikipedia article is incorrect and misleading in this regard. Would anyone be opposed to me changing the part about More presenting his "vision of an ideal society?"

[edit] Social science fiction

I wonder what is this genre relation to social science fiction? Can utopian and dystopian diction be classified as a part of Category:Science fiction genres?--Piotr Konieczny aka Prokonsul Piotrus Talk 03:25, 2 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Erewhon" is "nowhere" spelled backwards.

No it isn't. Erehwon is nowhere spelled backwards. Ade90212 09:24, 6 April 2006 (UTC)

[edit] List Page for Dystopian Fiction

After looking through many pages of movies/novels/short stories/poems that are dystopian works, but not in the short paragraph here, I think a List page should be created listing links to any fiction that has dystopian themes. Any thoughts as to this being a good idea? Gronkmeister 17:10, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

  • Found a group of lists here, I guess i'll just add these instead. Gronkmeister 17:14, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Star Trek and Utopia

I'm wondering whether Star Trek should be considered a utopian fiction, any thoughts? --Aled D 12:28, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Does 1984 not belong on the list? It is a dystopian story.

Regards,

Robin.lemstra

[edit] The Giver?

Isn't "The Giver" by Lois Lowry an example of Dystopian fiction?

At first, we are led to believe that the society is a utopia. But we soon learn that it is not. From what I remember, after a certain age, the old are euthenized. Also, newborn twins are murdered. There are other examples as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.44.24 (talk) 04:22, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

The Giver is a popular and frequently studied book in the broader genre, and I suspect most people would class it as a dystopia (that seems to be the perspective of the author, the protagonist, and the illustrators of the major editions). Probably it should get moved from "Utopia" section to "Dystopia" section. --lquilter 21:27, 31 October 2007 (UTC)

No. The Giver is a clear balance between Utopian and Dystopian. It should be left in between,

-G —Preceding unsigned comment added by 134.117.158.83 (talk) 06:57, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

[edit] relation to utopia article

I'm working on the utopia article, and noting that this article needs significant work. In particular, there is nothing in this article that discusses the very distinct utopian genre -- its hallmarks being a traveler's commentary on a foreign society, significant amounts of exposition and didactic writing, and accordingly less emphasis on characterization and plot. Doing this would let us then explain how later developments have played with the conventions of the genre (e.g., The Dispossessed in which the reader explores the "utopian" society and sees it as not utopian, then the protagonist voyages to the dystopian society for comparison, and returns home; Katharine Burdekin's Proud Man, Louky Bersianik's Euguelion, and Marge Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time in which a visitor comes to our society to comment negatively) and of course the dystopian novel.

So, in the meantime, I've plugged in some links and will start working on this article more. --lquilter 18:44, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

-Hi lquilter...did you see my post above about Louis Lowry's "The Giver" Do you think we should delete it from the list? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.235.44.24 (talk) 18:28, 31 October 2007 (UTC)