Dystopia Big Themes Flashcards
1
Q
Power
A
- how totalitarian control is exerted
- repression
- surveillance
- indoctrination
- language
2
Q
Everyman archetype
A
- roots in reality
- flawed figure to identify with
- out of depth and often concerned with self-preservation, not saving the world
- ‘ordinary more-or-less cowardly woman’
3
Q
Protest, rebellion
A
- acts of rebellion
- extent to which new normal accepted
4
Q
Narrative voice
A
- first person - constant access to thoughts and feelings
- third person - limited
5
Q
Violence
A
- means of maintaining control
- brutal violent spectacle
6
Q
Human endurance
A
- protection of individual rights
- autonomous sexuality
- r/ships
- retaining control of language
- adoption to restrictions?
- how achieved? ways people adapt to life they can tolerate
7
Q
Setting
A
- contrasting (idealised?) settings e.g. past/Golden Country
- bleak - used to reflect/express difficulties present in society, whether caused by totalitarian regime or apocalyptic disaster
- realistic, everyday but with hints of political control
8
Q
Reflection of social and historical contexts in which text is written
A
- 2nd wave feminism
- misogynistic c20
- anticipates rise of fundamentalism
9
Q
Utopia
A
- antithesis? - fantastical perfect
- but satisfaction of utopian goal in one area compromises rights/desires/aspirations of another
- perfectibility of man
- impact of evolution
10
Q
Technology
A
- Great War, industrialised killing
- devaluing of humanity
- eradication of individuality
- re-evaluate r/ships
11
Q
The individual
A
- diaries/autobiographies
- social/religious conformity
- erosion of self
- powerless, loss of autonomy
- subjugated by authoritarian collective
- autonomy lost, individual’s identity has little value when weighed against the needs of society
- individual consciousness can’t be controlled/thought abolished
