Dystopia - Literature

Dystopia is the Greek word for:

• Bad place

• Not a place

• Collapse

• Black mirror

Utopia is the Greek word for:

• Bad place

• Not a place

• Collapse

• Black mirror

A dystopia is:

• An imaginary world in which society lives under oppressive control

• An imaginary world that is on the brink of collapse

• An imaginary world that has suffered injustice

• An imaginary world that is different from our own

Factor #1 of dystopia is a totalitarian government or leadership, which means

• People that that exert excessive government control onto its citizens, diminishing positive human qualities such as freedom and dignity

• Surveillance, privacy invasions, media control, social engineering, mass misinformation, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, unmanned weapon systems

• A regime or government has taken absolute authoritarian control and bends its subjects to its will

• Factors due to environmental collapse - collapsed ecosystems, ice ages, nuclear winters, etc.

Factor #2 of dystopia is a repressive society

• People that that exert excessive government control onto its citizens, diminishing positive human qualities such as freedom and dignity

• Surveillance, privacy invasions, media control, social engineering, mass misinformation, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, unmanned weapon systems

• A regime or government has taken absolute authoritarian control and bends its subjects to its will

• Factors due to environmental collapse - collapsed ecosystems, ice ages, nuclear winters, etc.

Factor #3 of dystopia is a oppressive technology

• People that that exert excessive government control onto its citizens, diminishing positive human qualities such as freedom and dignity

• Surveillance, privacy invasions, media control, social engineering, mass misinformation, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, unmanned weapon systems

• A regime or government has taken absolute authoritarian control and bends its subjects to its will

• Factors due to environmental collapse - collapsed ecosystems, ice ages, nuclear winters, etc.

Factor #4 of dystopia is environmental collapse

• People that that exert excessive government control onto its citizens, diminishing positive human qualities such as freedom and dignity

• Surveillance, privacy invasions, media control, social engineering, mass misinformation, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, unmanned weapon systems

• A regime or government has taken absolute authoritarian control and bends its subjects to its will

• Collapsed ecosystems, ice ages, nuclear winters, etc.

Dystopias often start with the illusion of a harmonious or perfect society, as the story progresses, the characters realize that this world is the opposite of perfect, this is called

• Dystopiafication

• Utopistia

• Utopia to dystopia shift

• Degeneration of plot

Dystopias are most often based on the current social, technological, or government trends:

• in the past

• in the future

• in the present

The main objective of dystopian fiction is

• To inspire action

• Challenge readers to think differently about current social and political climates

• To scare children into becoming law abiding, diminutive citizens

• Purely for entertainment purposes