Literary Utopia vs. Utopianism – How Do They Differ?

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Liberal Utopia in Thomas Mores Utopia
Scientific Utopia in H. G. Wells’ A Modern Utopia
Ecological Utopia in Plato’s Republic
Technological Utopia in Manna by Marshall Brain
Conclusion
References

Introduction

Human beings have an innate desire to achieve high-quality standards of living, often perceived as being free from disease, having access to unlimited financial resources, co-existing in peace and harmony, and sustaining positive relationships. However, life is characterized by unprecedented challenges that do not always allow individuals to possess what they seek. As a result, the thoughts and philosophies of living in a perfect world can be summarized into a concept known as ‘utopia’. In literature, utopian authors adopt diverse elements that align with the qualities of an idealized world. Although there are several varieties of literary utopias, all of them share common features depending on the elements being discussed and the desired outcomes. Even so, these elements constitute human life and visualize a world that is free from suffering.

Liberal Utopia in Thomas Mores Utopia

Thomas More is among the first authors to write about utopia and share his ideas of a perfect but imaginary world. His work can be described as a liberal utopia because he imagines a complex, self-sustained community that exists on an island where individuals share a common way of life, similar cultures, continuously seek knowledge, and are not limited by bad governance and instability. Liberal utopia is a literary style that advocates for centralized distribution of economic resources and freedoms to enable actors to operate equally and collectively engage in initiatives toward sustainability (Elion-Valter, 2022). Thus, liberal utopias seek to dismantle the current socio-political trends where state governance and the interest of particular groups in the community thrive over the needs of the people. Instead, they visualize a world that is free of corruption and forms of capitalism responsible for inequality, corruption, and other vices against the general society.

More’s idea of a utopia is a communal society that allows all members to contribute and benefit from the environment and social activities. According to Harp (2008), More’s main reason for supporting the equal distribution of resources and opportunities without necessarily giving power to a few individuals was due to his religious foundations, which were different from Marxist and communist economic ideologies. More intended to create awareness of the need to abolish human vices as a result of capitalism including individuals’ irrationality, greed, pride, exploitation of the poor, injustice, inequality, and poverty (Eskelinen et al., 2020). Thus, his ideal world comprises individuals living in a liberal environment where everyone plays their role as required. However, achieving such qualities in the current world would require restructuring human society and altering individuals’ perceptions and beliefs, which is nearly impossible.

Scientific Utopia in H. G. Wells’ A Modern Utopia

In his book, A Modern Utopia, Wells takes his readers through a fictional imagination of a new world where he is parallel to himself. Throughout the novel, the author describes several elements of his utopian planet where human advancement and peace have taken over civilizations. As a result, his version of utopia is comparable to science fiction since he describes several technologies that were yet to be discovered during his time. According to Sargent, (2010), scientific utopias share ideas of achieving perfections in human living standards by eradicating disease and omitting all forms of suffering, including death. In other words, scientific utopias envision a world where human beings are advanced and use their intelligence to oversee solutions to their problems. In addition, scientific utopias constitute elements that might be out of the scope of reality.

In Wells’ imaginative planet, there is only one world order that controls and regulates all human action. However, society is organized with a planned settlement, children live in friendly and comfortable neighborhoods, there is no inequality, and no one is considered more important than the other (Wells, 1905). Nevertheless, individuals are categorized into four groups including poetic, kinetic, dull, and base people. According to Wells, all individuals play major roles apart from the base people, considered less intelligent and incapable (Wells, 1905). Therefore, although his utopia describes a world that is free of the current human attributes that introduce suffering such as disease and poverty, his earth is not void of issues as a group of people are side-lined and perceived as worthless. Regardless, Wells’ modern utopia is racially diverse and people do not eat food like meat because of their advanced moral sense that restricts them from butchering animals. Thus, although Wells’ utopia is inclined toward cutting-edge human developments, it connects human enlightenment with high levels of morality.

Ecological Utopia in Plato’s Republic

Plato’s Republic is a form of literary utopia that uses harmony in music composition to send a message of an ideal society where individuals uphold education, justice, work systems, and high moral standing. Hence, Plato’s Republic represents a variety of utopias known as ecological utopias due to their ideas of a society that works together in harmony and becomes one with the natural resources in its surroundings (Sayers, 2022). Although Plato’s Republic adopts an allegory by associating several aspects of human life with achieving harmony and pleasing an audience when composing music, his propositions point toward the inefficiencies of the current social and political landscape (Jowett, 2010). As a result, he idealized a near-perfect society where individuals prioritize education and intelligence instead of the current civilization characterized by greed and corruption. Therefore, his work is considered a utopia because it describes a society that can hardly exist.

Plato, in The Republic, constructs two contrasting civilizations and suggests that one is rendered with disease while the other one is healthy. Thus, individuals in a healthy society live in peace and harmony and are prosperous because they pay attention to environmental sustainability and subsistence human activities (Sayers, 2022). On the other hand, people in the unhealthy society are careless, do not acknowledge the needs of the environment, are focused on living luxuriously, and overconsume their land resources, thus rendering it unable to sustain future generations. As a result, the characters featured in Plato’s Republic discuss the possible solutions to rid the world of disease and establish a central political system aimed at recovering human virtues and restoring the environment’s health (Jowett, 2010). Regardless, Plato’s ultimate vision for the human race is an atmosphere where justice and integrity prevail over other human aspects.

Technological Utopia in Manna by Marshall Brain

Manna is a novel written by Marshal Brain in 2003 in light of the potential adversities and suffering the human race is exposed to due to technological advancements. As a result, the literary work can be classified under technology utopias because it shares the qualities of two environments and the implications of their adoption of robotics to oversee processes. According to Razzak (2020), technology utopias describe lifestyles where human functions are replaced by automatic solutions and their needs met by technological solutions, thus enabling them to live a higher quality of life. In most technology utopias, human beings achieve unimaginable success by leveraging the power of technology (Razzak, 2020). However, Manna features two distinct cases where individuals in one environment and suppressed and suffer due to technology while people in another area thrive due to their appropriate adoption of its solutions.

Marshal Brain shares the story of a fast-food restaurant that slowly develops while upgrading its technological systems until there are no responsibilities and paid job opportunities left for individuals. As a result, the author points to the potentially adverse implications of technology due to its design to take over human functions (Razzak, 2020). The dystopian society is characterized by significant income gaps, poverty, and inequality since powerful individuals are inclined toward satisfying their self-interests at the expense of others. However, on moving from the US to Australia, the author encounters another environment where everyone benefits from the initiatives of automation. Unlike in the fists environment, the utopian region is governed by fairness and justice that allows people to adopt communism and collaborate while taking advantage of available technologies to grow and develop (Razzak, 2020). Thus, the technological utopian aspect of Brains’ story is how human beings can use technology to their benefit instead of allowing innovations to harm positive development.

Conclusion

Even though utopian literary approaches share similar structures and pass on the main idea of a prosperous and advanced world, they are categorized into several varieties according to the themes presented and methods used to deliver the message. Human beings dream of co-existing in a perfect environment, free from suffering, where everyone’s opinions are acknowledged and their rights respected. However, the current social, political, and economic landscapes are inclined towards capitalism and a focus on self. As a result some people take advantage of others and benefit from their suffering. Nevertheless, utopian literary approaches describe the possibility of living in a unique and perfect world where justice, fairness, and equality prevail. Although various utopian compositions from various authors bear striking differences, they envision a society where technology, standards of living, education, freedom, and population control initiatives are flawless.

References

Elion-Valter, C. (2022). Legislative hope and utopia. In Utopian Thinking in Law, Politics, Architecture and Technology (pp. 59-75). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Eskelinen, T., Lakkala, K., & Laakso, M. (2020). Introduction: Utopias and the revival of imagination. In T. Eskelinen (Ed.), The Revival of Political Imagination: Utopia as Methodology (pp. 3-19). Zed Books.

Harp, J. (2008). “Private property and Utopia.” The Kenyon Review.

Jowett, B. (2010). Dialogues of Plato 4 Volume Paperback Set: Translated Into English, with Analyses and Introduction. Web.

Razzak, A. (2020). Description of Utopia in Marshall Brain’s Manna:’An Analysis.Electronic Research Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2. Web.

Sargent, L. T. (2010). Utopianism: a very short introduction. OUP Oxford.

Sayers, S. (2022). Plato’s Republic. In Plato’s Republic. Edinburgh University Press.

Wells, H. G. (1905). A modern utopia (No. 239). IndyPublish. com.

Click Here To Order Now!