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Utopia  and  DySToPiA

 

ORIGIN OF THE WORD:  The word “utopia” comes from the Greek words “ou” (‘no’) and “topos” (‘place’).  Literally, it means “no place.”  It was originally the name of a fictitious island in the Atlantic, created by Sir Thomas More as the setting for his novel Utopia.  The original Utopia had a perfect social, legal, and political system.

 

WHAT IS A UTOPIA?:  The word now refers to an ideal or perfect society, both in literature and in real life. 

 

UTOPIAS IN HISTORY: 

  • Some consider the Greek city-state Sparta to have been a utopia. 
  • Celebration, Florida- a town created by the Walt Disney Corporation.  The town even has machines to dispense falling leaves in the autumn, and snow every winter!  http://www.celebration.fl.us
  • Shaker Village, Harvard, MA and Brook Farm, West Roxbury, MA were created during the Second Great Religious Awakening.  Authors like Hawthorne and Thoreau spent time on Brook Farm, enjoying the collective atmosphere and self-reliance the farm stood for.
  • Israeli Kibbutzim
  • Oneida, New York- founded by Christians believing they could bring about Heaven on Earth.  The community eventually turned into the giant silverware company Oneida Limited!
 

WHAT IS A DYSTOPIA?:  It is the opposite of a utopia!  In a dystopia, there is oppressive social control, the government is brutal, and there is no free will.

 

UTOPIAS AND DYSTOPIAS IN LITERATURE, MUSIC, AND GAMES:

Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange

George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm

Lois Lowry’s The Giver, Gathering Blue, and Messenger

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World

Alan Moore’s V for Vendetta

P.D. James’ The Children of Men

Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery

Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Beyond Thunderdome

Blade Runner

Demolition Man

Gattaca

The Island

Escape from New York (L.A.)

The Truman Show

Pink Floyd’s The Wall

John Lennon’s Imagine

Nine Inch Nail’s Year Zero

Fear Factory’s Obsolete

David Bowie’s Diamond Dogs

Metallica’s “The Unforgiven”

Radiohead’s OK Computer

Gorrilaz’s “Feel Good, Inc.”

Muse’s Absolution and Black Holes and Revelations

and Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime

Half-Life II

BioShock

Red Faction

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