Utopia

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Modernism is variously argued to be a period, style, genre or combination or these; but it is first of all a word; one which exists along side cognate words. Modernism was first used in the early eighteen century simply to denote trends, characteristics of modern times, while in the nineteenth century itЎ¦s meaning encompassed sympathy with modern options, styles or expressions. In the later part of the nineteenth century Modernism referred to progressive trends in the Catholic Church. In literature it surfaced in Thomas HardyЎ¦s Tess of the dЎ¦urbervilles (1891), to denote what he called a general and unwelcomed creeping industrial Ў§ ache of modernismЎЁ.

Modernism, as an international art term covers the many avant-garde styles and movements that proliferated under the names of Expressionism, Imagism, Surrealism, Futurism, Dadaism, Vorticism, Formalism and in writing, if not painting, Impressionism. It forbears were Darwin, Marx and Nietzsche; its intellectual guru was Freud.

Typical aspects of modernist writing are radical aesthetics, technical experimentation, spatial or rhythmic rather than chronological form, self-conscious reflexiveness, sceptism towards the idea of a central subject and a sustained inquiry into the uncertainty of reality. Modernism can be taken as a response by artists and writers to several things, including industrialisation, urban society, war, technological change and new philosophical ideas.

Technological changes meant that modernism was an art of a rapidly transforming world of industrial development, mechanisation, urbanisation, secularisation and mass forms of social interaction. In fiction new writers spearheaded a rejection of several of the fundamentals of classical realism.

This rejection of classical realism and the technological changes in modernism is effectively reflected in one of its powerful aspect called Science Fiction „o a special literary genre, different from other imaginative and fantastic literatures.

Science Fiction is a term that would seem to be contradictory as Science is the search of truth and Fiction is a creation or the imagination and yet science fiction is still a part of reality.

Science Fiction may be defined in general terms as a branch of literature that deals with the response of people to growth in science and technology. But there is always disagreement among critics regarding its definition and all of the many definitions offered by critics have been contradicted or modified by other critics and it is always possible to point out to texts consensually called Science Fiction that fall outside the usual definitions.

Damon Knight says that, Ў§ Science Fiction is what we point to when we say it;ЎЁ and Norman Spinraid argues that, Ў§ Science Fiction is anything published as science fictionЎЁ. The Oxford English dictionary which has been accepted as a general definitions by most of the writers, defines Science fiction as ЎV Ў§imaginative fiction based on postulated scientific discoveries or spectacular environmental changes, frequently set in the future or on other planets and involving space or time travelЎЁ.

The Oxford dictionary along with the definition adds on, that the term Science Fiction or SF did not come into common usage until the 1920Ў¦s for the date is important too.

Novels and stories written in what is generally known as science fiction were certainly produced before the 1920Ў¦s „o for example, in the late 19th century by writers such as H.G.Wells and Jules Verne. Some criticism asserts that the first SF story comes from even earlier than that but they were specific and sometimes one ЎV off examples of imaginative fiction. It was not until 1920Ў¦s that these sorts of writing became identified as belonging to a family of literature „o Science Fiction.

Books that deal with any of the following subjects, themes, trappings or props are liable to be thought of as science fiction: Spaceships, Interplanetary or Interstellar travel; Aliens and the encounter with aliens; Mechanicals robots; Genetic engineering, Biological robots or Androids; Computers; Advanced Technology, Virtual reality; Time travel; Alternative history and the most striking elements, Utopia and Dystopia.

Utopia and Dystopia are two contradictory elements of Science Fiction, yet both of them deal with the human future, but their way of approach is entirely opposite. For Utopia, is a place where all is well; A world state: international government; central bureaucracy; state-controlled land; population controlled etc., exists. It is often ruled by a voluntary ЎҐnobilityЎ¦ called SAMURAI ЎV the equivalent of PlatoЎ¦s guardian philosopher. But in recent years, we are told, that writers have seen the possibility of utopia