Dystopia av Gregory (Professor of History Professor of History Royal Holloway University of London) Claeys

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Dystopia: A Natural History is the first monograph devoted to the concept of dystopia. Taking the term to encompass both a literary tradition of satirical works, mostly on totalitarianism, as well as real despotisms and societies in a state of disastrous collapse, this volume redefines the central concepts and the chronology of the genre and offers a paradigm-shifting understanding of the subject.Part One assesses the theory and prehistory of ''dystopia''. By contrast to utopia, conceived as promoting an ideal of friendship defined as ''enhanced sociability'', dystopia is defined by estrangement, fear, and the proliferation of ''enemy'' categories. A ''natural history'' of dystopia thus concentrates upon the centrality of the passion or emotion of fear and hatred in modern despotisms. The work of Le Bon, Freud, and others is used to show how dystopian groups use such emotions. Utopia and dystopia are portrayed not as opposites, but as extremes on a spectrum of sociability, defined by a