Utopian & Dystopian Literature

In its most common and general positive meaning, a utopia refers to an imaginary, ideal civilization, which may range from a city to a world, and may be regarded as possible in the future, although not currently existent. In utopian fiction like Plato's Republic, the author attempts to describe society as it should be. A dystopia, or anti-utopia, is a fictional society that is the opposite of utopia; a utopia with a fatal flaw; or an apparently utopian society with underlying problems.

A dystopia, or anti-utopia, is usually characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government, or some other kind of oppressive social control. Huxley's Brave New World or Orwell's 1984 are examples of dystopian literature. For an interesting list of potential characteristics of a dystopia, visit the Wikipedia article; for a list of dystopian literature, click here.

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