Abstract
This chapter is dedicated to a theoretical overview of the concept of utopia, its definition and history, starting from Thomas More’s seminal text. The aim is to explore utopia both as a genre and as a social project, with a special emphasis on utopias written in the course of the nineteenth and twentieth century. Another topic discussed in the chapter is the relationship between ideology and utopia, making reference to the works of Mannheim, Ricoeur, Foucault, and Agamben. The chapter also takes into consideration dystopia as a complete reversal of utopia, a narrative that describes the destruction of the world in order to prevent it from happening. Dystopia can be seen as a prophecy created to avoid its fulfillment.
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Notes
- 1.
This initial title was used by More in some letters he wrote to Erasmus of Rotterdam. See Manuel, Frank E.; Manuel, Fritzie P. Utopian Thought in the Western World. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University Press, 1979, 1.
- 2.
See Punzo, Luigi. Messaggio versus personaggio, in Fortunati, Vita; Spinozzi, Paola (editors). Vite di utopia. Ravenna: Longo, 1997, 28. In the Penguin edition translated by Paul Turner ou-topia is translated as “Noplacia”, and eu-topia as “Goplacia” (see More, Thomas. Utopia, translated by Paul Turner. Baltimore: Penguin, 1965, 27).
- 3.
The English translation is taken from Marin, Louis. Utopics: Spatial Plays, translated by Robert A. Vollrath. Atlantic Islands, NJ: The Humanities Press, 1984, 275.
- 4.
Ruyer, Raymond. L’utopie et les utopies. Paris: P.U.F., 1950, 9.
- 5.
See Quarta, Cosimo. L’aggancio alla storia, in Fortunati, Vita; Spinozzi, Paola (editors). Vite di utopia. Ravenna: Longo, 1997, 100.
- 6.
See Pleij, Herman. Dreaming of Cokaigne: Medieval fantasies of the perfect life. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001, 75.
- 7.
See Casalegno, Giovanni. Storia e geografia del Paese di Cuccagna, in Barberi Squarotti, Giorgio (edited by). I mondi impossibili: l’utopia. Trino: Tirrenia Stampatori, 1990, 32.
- 8.
See Boccaccio, Giovanni. Decameron. Milano-Napoli: Ricciardi, 1952, 539.
- 9.
See Creagh, Ronald. Utopies véçues: les communautés de libertaires aux Etats Unis d’Amerique, in L’imaginaire subversif. Interrogations sul l’utopie. Genève: Editions Noir, 1982, 99.
- 10.
See Trousson, Raymond. D’utopies et d’utopistes. Paris: L’Harmattan, 1998, 81–102.
- 11.
See Holloway, Mark. Heavens on Earth: Utopian Communities in America 1680–1880. New York: Dover Publications, 1966.
- 12.
See Tumminelli, Roberto. Etienne Cabet. Critica della società e alternativa di Icaria. Milano: Giuffré, 1981.
- 13.
See Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich. The Communist Manifesto (Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei, 1848), New York: International Publishers, 1930, 63–66.
- 14.
See also Manuel 1979, 666.
- 15.
See Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich. The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State (Der Ursprung der Familie, des Privateigenthums und des Staats 1884), in Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich. Selected Works. New York: International Publishers, 1968.
- 16.
See Foucault, Michel. Microfisica del potere. Interventi politici (1971–1977). Torino: Einaudi, 1977, 13.
- 17.
See Bauman, Zygmunt. Liquid Times: Living in an Age of Uncertainty. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006.
- 18.
See Walsh, Chad. From Utopia to Nightmare. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1962, 26.
- 19.
See Nietzsche, Friedrich. The Gay Science (Die fröhliche Wissenschaft, 1882), translated by Walter Kaufmann. New York: Random House, 1974, 181–182.
- 20.
Marx, Karl; Engels, Friedrich. Collected Works, vol. III. New York: International Publishers, 1975, 394.
Bibliography
Ricoeur, Paul. Lectures on Ideology and Utopia. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986.
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Fioretti, D. (2017). The Theoretical Landscape. In: Utopia and Dystopia in Postwar Italian Literature. Italian and Italian American Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-46553-1_2
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