Future’s Frequency: Dystopian and Utopian Concepts
“A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at, for it leaves out the one country at which Humanity is always landing.”
– Oscar Wilde –
Dystopia = an imaginary world or society with great suffering or injustice, often a totalitarian or post-apocalyptic one
> dystopian (adj)
Utopia = an imaginary and idealistic world or society in which everything is perfect, the opposite of dystopia
> utopian (adj)
Utopian thinking = challenging the existing reality by imagining better future societies, which might work as a catalyst for change
Vision = a mental image of what the future will or might be like
Cultural imaginary = socially constructed visions of the future created to meet the needs of a particular group or community, eg. expectations or fears typical of the group
Related concepts:
– apocalypse: the complete and final destruction of the world > apocalyptic (adj)
– post-apocalyptic: relating to the time after a nuclear war or other catastrophic event
– sci-fi (short for science fiction): fiction based on imaginary scientific or technological advances and major social or environmental changes in the future, often depicting space or time travel and life on other planets
– historical empathy: the ability to emotionally experience a historical figure’s lived experience, to understand people in their lives in the historical context
– empathetic imagination: the ability to imagine oneself in the different circumstances of another person, may be beneficial when envisioning the future
– anthropocene: relating to the current geological age during which human activity has started to have a dominant influence on climate and ecosystems
Dystopian subgenres:
– eco-dystopia: a dystopia of a world where living conditions have deteriorated as a result of environmental catastrophes
– cyberpunk: a genre of science fiction which depicts advanced science and technology in an urban, dystopian future > cyborg: a fictional person who is part human and part machine
– feminist dystopia: a dystopia that depicts a society in which gender inequality and oppression of women are high
Utopian subgenres:
– political utopia
– local utopia
– temporal utopia