Dystopia
(Greek: dys ‘bad’ + tópas ‘place’)
Monday, March 16, 2009

Dystopia
A dystopian society is characterized by misery,
oppression, violence, disease, and/or pollution.
A vision of a society that is the opposite of
utopia (an ideal community).
Monday, March 16, 2009

Utopia - Origins
Utopia is a name for an ideal community or society,
taken from the title of a book written in 1516 by Sir
Thomas More that described a fictional island in the
Atlantic Ocean. His ideas were based on Plato’s
Republic.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Dystopia
Dystopias (imaginary future worlds) serve as a moral
or political warning (called a cautionary narrative),
often of the threat of oppressive regimes.
Dystopian literature are often visions of \"dangerous
and alienating future societies,\" intended to criticise
current trends in culture.
The term was coined in 1868 by the English
philosopher John Stuart Mill.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Dystopia
Dystopias are common in science fiction.
George Orwell's 1984, published in 1949, is
one of most famous dystopian texts. The term
“Big Brother” came into popular use from this
novel.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Characteristics
Imaginary future in a nightmare world
Oppressive regimes
Dehumanizing technological advancements
Cities or polluted wastelands
Man-made disasters
Monday, March 16, 2009

1984
Monday, March 16, 2009

Brave New World
Written by Aldous Huxley in 1932.
One of the 20th century’s most
famous dystopian novels.
Set in London in 2540, all humans
are part of one totalitarian state,
free from war, hatred, poverty,
disease, and pain.
The price is a total absence of
individual freedom.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Contemporary Dystopian texts
The Road by Cormac
McCarthy - novel (2006)
and film (2009)
Pulitzer-winning novel -
journey of man and his son
in a post-apocalyptic world
devoid of life
Monday, March 16, 2009

Renaissance
2006 animated
cyberpunk/science
fiction detective film
by French director
Christian Volckman.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Renaissance
Monday, March 16, 2009

V for Vendetta -
graphic novel and
film
Monday, March 16, 2009

Children
of Men
A futuristic society faces extinction when no
children are born and the human race has lost the
ability to reproduce. England has descended into
chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to
institute martial law. The warden’s ability to keep
order is threatened when a woman finds that she is
pregnant with what would be the first child born in
27 years. (Directed by Alfonso Cuarón)
Monday, March 16, 2009

Matrix Trilogy
Monday, March 16, 2009

Handmaid’s Tale
A dystopian novel by
Canadian author Margaret
Atwood (1985). The novel
is set against the
backdrop of a totalitarian
pseudo-Christian
theocracy which has
overthrown the United
States government in the
near future.
Monday, March 16, 2009

Minority
Report
In Washington, D.C., in the year 2054, murder
has been eliminated. The future is seen and the
guilty punished before the crime has ever been
committed. (Directed by Steven Spielberg)
Monday, March 16, 2009

Sources
http://hem.passagen.se/replikant/1984_dystopia.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopian_and_dystopian_fiction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brave_New_World
http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the-top-50-dystopian-
movies-of-all-time/
Monday, March 16, 2009