All the utopias, dystopias and uchroniasespecially the last two are trendy both in cinema and in literature and in culture in general, but they have been there for a long time and continue to be cultivated and generate followers and addicts. We are going to review what they are about and we will make a selection some of the most representative titles.
Utopias, dystopias and uchronias
Utopia
Defined especially by philosophy, this idea is also present in literature. alludes to a imaginary, idyllic and fair societyIn a word, perfect. It comes from the work of Sir Thomas More titled thus, Utopia, from 1516, written in Latin and establishing a vision of an ideal society. It may also happen that an even more advanced group helps that society to continue improving.
It is often used as an example of satire or criticism social, since there will always be contradictions and fissures in a society that, by definition, is not completely homogeneous.
- The Republic - Plato
Considered the first title of the genre, although in Ancient Greece the term did not exist. But it's the first example of that description of an ideal society that it is a democratic city-state in which there are three social groups: the leaders, who govern fairly, the warriors, who obviously defend that society, and the manual workers or producers of wealth for all.
- the new atlantis —Francis Bacon
This novel tells the story of a mythical place inhabited by a harmonious and balanced society, which developed thanks to the scientific and technological knowledge. That made it possible to improve life in general and in all areas.
And other titles are those of A modern utopia, by HG Wells or The end of childhood, by Arthur C. Clarke.
Dystopia
Concept opposed to utopia and much more frequent and that gives more play in artistic fiction, where that imaginary society is unfair and chaotic and no one would want to be a part of it. It also often happens that in most dystopian stories real and unreal elements exist or are combined.
- A happy world — Aldous Huxley
Definitely a title referencia and almost in the top most classic genre that it shares on a par with 1984, George Orwell. In both, the society where the characters move is controlled by a authoritarian and despotic government that watches over all citizens and censors artistic creation, religion and any other type of cultural manifestation that is not the one imposed.
- Essay on blindness — Jose Saramago
Another classic work that tells the story of how a disease that blinds people spreads to become pandemic and provokes a dystopian society where the selfishness, Chaos and despair and, again, controlled by a repressive government.
- The Handmaid's Tale —Margaret Atwood
The most famous contemporary dystopian novel, object of recent version for television that has ended up reporting all the success.
Uchronía
Literally defined as "at no time", it intends to tell a alternative to a real or historical fact what has happened That is to say, it reconsiders it as if something had happened that did not happen or that event that happened had ended or evolved in another way.
- uchronia. Utopia in history —Charles Renouvier
was this french philosopher the first to use this term, who initially wanted to present an alternative history in a utopian way, that is, highlighting the good that should have happened and not the bad that really happened. This book deals with the succession of the emperor Marco Aurelio when, instead of Comfortable, who takes power is Avid Cassius, which prevents the triumph of Christianity in the Western Empire, defeat the barbarians of the North and skips over the Middle Ages to become a better European Union.
- the man in the castle —Philip K. Dick
Undoubtedly, the uchrony of uchronies, or one of the most famous, is this work by the master of science fiction that touches on the most hackneyed theme of the genre: the victory of the Axis forces against the Allies in World War II. And what comes out is a very detailed alternate reality in which the Nazis are absolute evil and dominate half the planet. Another work connected with it is Homelandby Robert Harris.
- What time took —Ward Moore
That deals with another topic that lends itself to the most uchronic fabulation or imagination, that of the american civil war. part of the alleged victory of the southern army in the battle of Gettysburg, which leads to the end of the contest. So a few years later the now racist and imperialist Confederate government that dominates all of North and South America and keeps the country backward and miserable will have to face the new and powerful world superpower, which is none other than the German empire.
And so we finish this brief review of famous utopias, dystopias and uchronies.