Variations on the Dystopian: William James, Ursula Le Guin, and Bernard Wolfe Cover Image

Вариации на дистопичното: Уилям Джеймс, Урсула Ле Гуин и Бърнард Улф
Variations on the Dystopian: William James, Ursula Le Guin, and Bernard Wolfe

Author(s): Vladimir Poleganov
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies, Studies of Literature, Comparative Study of Literature
Published by: Софийски университет »Св. Климент Охридски«
Keywords: Ursula K. Le Guin; Bernard Wolfe; William James; dystopia; utopia

Summary/Abstract: For over a century now, dystopian visions of the future have been an integral part of the strategies through which literature reacts to changes in the world. However, dystopia is not always an entirely new world. Sometimes, it is an element in a world born from a utopian impulse. The article explores the variations of the dystopian in two such worlds influenced by the works of William James: Bernard Wolfe's Limbo and in Ursula K. Le Guin's The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas. The analysis adopts the concept of dystopia as utopia’s shadow, and traces the moments when the world, the body, and the language of the Utopian begin to waver and transform into the voice of the Dystopian.

  • Issue Year: 10/2024
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 45-54
  • Page Count: 10
  • Language: Bulgarian
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