Dystopia

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This monograph is the first dedicated to the concept of dystopia, encompassing both satirical literary traditions and real-life despotisms. It redefines key concepts and the chronology of the genre, offering a transformative understanding. Part One explores the theory and prehistory of dystopia, contrasting it with utopia. While utopia promotes enhanced sociability, dystopia is characterized by estrangement, fear, and the creation of 'enemy' categories. It emphasizes the emotions of fear and hatred central to modern despotisms, drawing on the works of Le Bon, Freud, and others to illustrate how these emotions are manipulated. Utopia and dystopia are positioned as extremes on a sociability spectrum, linked by heightened group identity. The prehistory section investigates the demonization of 'enemies,' tracing it from early monstrosity concepts to Christian views of the devil and witchcraft. Part Two surveys significant dystopian moments in the twentieth century, focusing on Nazi Germany, Stalinism, the Chinese Cultural Revolution, and Cambodia under Pol Pot, with an emphasis on the political religion hypothesis as a key explanation for communism's excesses. Part Three delves into literary dystopias, starting with anti-Jacobin writings of the 1790s and addressing major twentieth-century texts like Huxley's "Brave New World" and Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," before examining the genre's evolution into the present.