According to utopian fiction.com, a utopia can be defined as an ideal or perfect place or state, or any visionary system of political or social perfection. In literature, it refers to a detailed description of a nation or commonwealth ordered according to a system which the author proposes as a better way of life than any known to exist, a system that could be instituted if the present one could be cancelled and people could start over. So, in my opinion, utopia is a condition when the wolrd is peaceful or utopian related to the ideal world. Such as, no more about criminality and so on.
The word itself was coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book of the same name. The roots of the word are from the Greek ou (not) and topos (place), thus meaning “no place” or “nowhere”, although there are also overtones of “good place” from the homonymous Greek prefix eu meaning “good”.
Over the years, various attempts have been made to establish real-life utopian communities, many of them in the United States. Several experimental communities were set up in the USA in the 1830’s and 1840’s following the doctrines of Charles Fourier. New Harmony was established in Indiana under the leadership of a Scottish industrialist named Robert Owen. The Icarians established settlements in several US states in 1848. The Oneida Community was a utopian commune in Oneida, New York, also begun in 1848. The Shakers, an English Protestant group, built villages in eight states in the 1840’s, as did the Amana colonists in Iowa in the 1850’s and the Hutterites in the Dakotas and Western Canada in the 1870’s.
Development of Utopian Literature
Early utopias were usually very idealistic and perfect, where all the evils of society have been removed. The earliest examples, such as those of Plato and Cicero were more exercises in philosophical argument than novels as such, and were not necessarily written with either the practicability of the system or the entertainment value of the writing in mind. Typically, the plot revolved around a visit to, or a shipwreck on, a newly-discovered island, long isolated from the rest of civilization. But the distinguishes utopian literature from a political or philosophical treatise is the attempt to weave the discussion of an idealized social set-up into the form of a novel, containing individual characters with whom we can empathise or disapprove, and at least a rudimentary plot progression.
Some utopian authors were influenced by the ideas of the 18th Century philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau about an ideal Arcadian society, or Golden Age, which was thought to have existed in ancient times before the development of civilization corrupted it. One of utopian authors is Henry David Thoreau.
Generally, the perfect societies in utopian novels are often communistic or socialistic in character, and dystopias are often fascistic in their underlying nature, but both tend to result in a very controlling society where individuals are discouraged from interfering with the primary goals of the state, and where the state to a greater or lesser extent tends to replace religious or family values.
Some utopias are more specific in their focus. There are :
Feminist utopias Utopias have been used to explore the ramification of gender being either a societal construct, or a hard-wired imperative. Utopic single-gender worlds or single-sex societies have long been one of the primary ways to explore implications of gender and gender-differences. In speculative fiction, female-only worlds have been imagined to come about by the action of disease that wipes out men, along with the development of technological or mystical method that allow female parthenogenic reproduction. The resulting society is often shown to be utopian by feminist writers. The Example is Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland
Ecological utopias. Ecological utopian society describes new ways in which society should relate to nature. They react to a perceived widening gap between the modern Western way of living that destroys nature and the traditional way of living that is thought to be more in harmony with nature. According to the Dutch philosopher Marius de Geus, ecological utopias could be sources of inspiration for green political movements. The Example is Ernest Callenbach’s Ecotopia
Technological utopias. Scientific and technological utopias are set in the future, when it is believed that advanced science and technology will allow utopian living standards. Technology has affected the way humans have lived to such an extent that normal functions, like sleep, eating or even reproduction, have been replaced by artificial means. The Example are Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward and Kurt Vonnegut’s Piano Player
Religious utopias. Religious utopias can be intra-religious or inter-religious. Inter-religious utopia is a condition where the leaders of different religions accept science as a part of human-living and agree to abolish all baseless superstitious beliefs. In more extended theories it goes up to the level of different religious leaders setting-aside their differences and accepting harmony, peace and understanding to unite all religions within one another, thereby forming an utopian religion or a religion of Humans with God being defined as Science or the supernatural force that reigned before the birth of the universe. Religion and God being used as a self-motivating factor for people to believe in and raise themselves out of difficult situations. The Example is St. Augustine’s City of God
Communist utopias. Communist utopias are based on economics. Most intentional communities attempting to create an economic utopia were formed in response to the harsh economic conditions of the 19th century. Particularly in the early 19th century, several utopian ideas arose, often in response to their belief that social disruption was created and caused by the development of commercialism and capitalism. These are often grouped in a greater "utopian socialist" movement, due to their shared characteristics: an egalitarian distribution of goods, frequently with the total abolition of money, and citizens only doing work which they enjoy and which is for the common good, leaving them with ample time for the cultivation of the arts and sciences. The Example is Efremov’s Andomeda Nebula
References :
http://www.wikipedia.org
http://www.utopianfiction.com
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