Lightening Talk Mod 1

# An Extremely Brief History of Utopian Thought and Theory


#### Lead with history of word, origins, Thomas More’s 1516 essay Utopia 
1. two prefixes ού and εϋ mean ‘not’ and ‘good’ respectively 
2. thus outopia means literally “not-place” and eutopia “good-place” 

#### Fundamental, traditionalist approach 
1. journey to an unknown place where the traveler is given a guided tour detailing the social, political, economic, and religious organization 
2. often featured a rigid set of laws or social codes 
3. subversive messages?

#### More's original Utopia as satire? 
1. many people in the following centuries took the idea of utopia seriously s
2. utopian ideals implemented in real time? (19th C America)

#### 20th century backlash
1. activities of two world wars 
2. impact on intellectual community

#### Reinvigoration of utopian aspiration in the middle twentieth century 
1. shift of setting, a literal change of location
2. uptake of preoccupation with science fiction  
3. what does this allow? why?

#### Late 20th C, what now?
1. predominant use of dystopia since 1980s
2. why? what does this allow?