Transcript Dystopian Characteristics

DYSTOPIAS
DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS
DEFINITIONS
• Utopia: A place, state, or condition that is ideally perfect in
respect of politics, laws, customs, and conditions.
• Dystopia: A futuristic, imagined universe in which oppressive
societal control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained
through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral, or
totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case
scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm, or
political system.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A DYSTOPIAN SOCIETY
• Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.
• Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted.
• A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the
society.
• Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance.
• Citizens have a fear of the outside world.
Citizens live in a dehumanized state.
CHARACTERISTICS OF A DYSTOPIAN SOCIETY
• The natural world is banished and distrusted.
• Citizens conform to uniform expectations.
Individuality and dissent are bad.
• The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian
world.
TYPES OF DYSTOPIAN CONTROLS
Most dystopian works present a world in which oppressive societal
control and the illusion of a perfect society are maintained through
one or more of the following types of controls:
 Corporate Control
Bureaucratic Control
Technological Control
Philosophical/Religious Control
THE DYSTOPIAN PROTAGONIST
• often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
• questions the existing social and political systems.
• believes or feels that something is terribly wrong
with the society in which he or she lives.
• helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects
of the dystopian world through his or her
perspective.
COMMON CONCEPTS IN THE DYSTOPIAN NOVEL
1.
The Status of the Individual
• It’s of little, if any, consequence b/c the desire
is usually for conformity
• In Facial Justice, all women have to have
artificially identical faces; In the short story
“Harrison Bergeron”, all characters are
artificially handicapped to ensure uniformity in
appearance and ability.
THE NATURE OF POWER
• Could be a single corrupt tyrant or governmental
agency (the Party or Big Brother), but the point is
the individual is crushed and freedom curtailed.
People who try to fight back are crushed or
vaporized or somehow turned into a cautionary tale.
COMMUNICATION
• It’s always poor, artificial, stilted, controlled
• In 1984, the purpose is to limit individual thought
and eliminate all possibility of rebellion or
subversion connotations. The theory is, if they don’t
have a word for it, it doesn’t exist.
TWO MAIN PLOTS
1. Nasty things happen, but everything turns out all right in
the end.
• Ex: Facial Justice (LP Hartley, 1960) The heroine, Jael 97, beats the
Establishment at its own game and everyone lives happily ever after.
It wasn’t one of her most celebrated works.
2. Nasty things happen, but despite everyone’s best
efforts, the Establishment wins.
•
Ex: Brave New World
QW
• Make a list of all the Dystopian novels/Movies you can
think of…
• Why do you think teens/young adults like to read these?
Make a list of reasons why they are so popular currently
or generally en vogue