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The Utopian Fantastic Selected Essays from the Twentieth International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
Martha Bartter
ISBN: 0-313-31635-X
ISBN-13: 978-0-313-31635-7
168 pages
Praeger Publishers
Publication: 4/30/2004
List Price: $71.95 (UK Sterling Price: £49.95)
Availability: In Stock
Media Type: Hardcover
Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
Subjects:
Description: Utopia forms a major aspect of human desire, one that is as important as religion. Understanding utopia and the ways in which it can collapse into dystopia is crucial in many disciplines. Fantastic literature (including science fiction and fantasy) is the only form of literature that takes utopia/dystopia seriously. Therefore, analysis of these works provides a basis for serious experimentation in social science.

In this volume, critics analyze contemporary literary thought experiments such as 1984 and We. They show how utopian experiments can easily slide into dystopia. Exploring these fictional sociocultural, political experiments gives us new ways to think about our lives and culture. While literature, history, and political science professors may find this book useful, it can also serve as a call to arms to anyone dedicated to maintaining freedom and humane living in the world today.
Table of Contents:
  • Not So Blind Hope: An Introduction by Thomas Morrisey
    Dark Shadows and Bright Lights: Generators and Maintainers of Utopias and Dystopias by Roger Schlobin
    Mapping Utopias: Spatial and Temporal Sites of Meaning by John C. Hawley
    We Are Marching to Utopia: Kurt Vonnegut's "Player Piano" by Donald E. Morse
    David Mamet's "The Water Engine": The Utopian Ideal as Social Control by Jeanne Beckwith
    Kim Stanley Robinson's Martian Vision by Carl Swindorski
    Women and Mad Science: Women as Witnesses to the Scientific Recreation of Humanity by Cherilyn Lacy
    Digital Ambivalence: Utopia, Dystopia, and the Digital Cosmos by Dennis M. Weiss
    Apprehending Identity in the Alldera Novels of Suzy McKee Charnas by Bill Clemente
    You Can't Go Home Again: "Kirinyaga" by Mike Resnick by Lynn F. Williams and Martha A. Bartter
    "Momutes": Momentary Utopias in Tepper's Trilogies by Robin Anne Reid
    Of Dystopias and Icons: Brin's "The Postman" and Butler's "Parable of the Sower" by Oscar De Los Santos
    Beyond Personal Introspection: Classroom Response to Sherri Tepper's "The Gate to Women's Country" by Tamara Wilson
    The Nature of "Outsider Dystopias": Atwood, Starhawk, and Abbey by Sharon Stevenson
    News from Somewhere: A Case for Romance-Tradition Fantasy's Reformist Poetic by Kelly Searsmith
About the Author: MARTHA BARTTER is Professor of English, Division of Language and Literature, Truman State University.
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