Utopias

U - topia

often reacting against a social problem/dissatisfaction

"the goal of removal from the heart of civilization to the wilderness in order to establish a new social order."

Utopias in Literature

fictional work set in an ideal world/community

"no" + "place"/"good" + "place"

Examples:

• Plato - The Republic (380 BC)
• Tao Yuanming - Táohuā Yuán (421)
• Thomas More - Utopia (1516)
• Margaret Cavendish - The Blazing World (1666)
• Alduous Huxley - Island (1962)
• Norman Rush - Mating (1992)
• many, many more

Dys - topia = "bad"+"place"

opposite of utopia

story set in the worst possible world in which existing problems are exaggerated.

WKU

introducing western education to Chinese students

"Without the Utopians of other times, men would still live in caves, miserable and naked. It was Utopians who traced the lines of the first City…..Out of generous dreams come beneficial realities. Utopia is the principle of all progress, and the essay into a better future."

-- Anatole France

21st Century Utopias

• The Farm -- nonviolence and respect for the environment
• Green Bank -- escape the digital world
• Arcosanti -- "urban laboratory"
• Finca Bellavista Sustainable Treehouse Community--environmentally conscious community
• Twin Oaks--sustainability
• New Songdo City, Korea--full tech integration
• Yogaville, Buckingham, Virginia--holistic health
• The Ecovillage at Ithaca, New York --sustainable living and education center
• Polestar Yoga CommunityHawaii--yoga and meditation community

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/21/utopias_n_3768023.html

19th Century

Brook Farm (1841-1846): The Transcendentalist Romance

Fruitlands (1843-1844): The Farm Without Farmers

New Harmony (1825-1829): The Boatload of Knowledge

Oneida (1848−1881): The Complex Marriage

The Shakers (1745-): The Simple Life

http://www.history.com/news/history-lists/5-19th-century-utopian-communities-in-the-united-states

Examples

Thoreau's "Walden"

The individual rejects society and social law, in favor of "self-reliance." Thoreau builds his own house and finds his own food, rather than buying it.

American History

Purposes of Utopias

Settlers from the "civilized" Europe come to the wild New World to establish their own utopias

- escape religious prosecution

- gain political freedom

to create/correct a perfect relationship with ...

• Environment
• Economy
• Religion
• Technology
• Education
• Politics
• Equality
• Etc.

Thomas More's "Utopia" (1516)

A traveler meets two Englishmen and describes one of his travels:

"a nation based on rational thought, with communal property, great productivity, no rapacious love of gold, no real class distinctions, no poverty, little crime or immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and little inclination to war."

Definitions

History

critique of England's poverty, crime, immoral behavior, religious tolerance, and war