I am himanshi Parmar, here i write a blog on two questions, (1) Dystopian Literature and (2) India in 20th century Literature. Which was given as a part of thinking activity.
1] Dystopian Literature
What is Dystopia :-
According to Oxford dictionary,
"Dystopia is an imagined or society in which there is a great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post - apocalyptic."
In another words, "Dystopia is a speculated community or society that is undesirable or frightening."
Dystopia is basically refered as a antonym of utopian. A term which was coined by sir Thomas More. The word Dystopia, was derived from adding the Latin 'prefix dys', which means 'bad', to the word utopia. So a dystopia is a utopia gone wrong. Here i put a video, which shows, what kind of Dystopian world actually are.
What is utopia?
According to Oxford Dictionary,
"Utopia is an imagined place or state or thing in which everything is perfect."
"Also utopia is an ideal society or state. "
It was first coin by sir Thomas More for his book Utopia, which describing a fictional island society in the new world. The word 'Utopia' derived from the Greek Word 'Outopos'. Meaning 'no place' or 'Nowhere'. Also identical greek word 'Eutopos' means 'A good place'. This is a video of utopian world.
Dystopian Literature :-
Dystopian literature is a form of writing novels or any other literary work, as a response of utopian literature. We can able to say that Dystopia or Dystopian literature is an Antonym of Utopia or Utopian Literature. Dystopian literature gives us a vision of future. It is a society that is dehumanizing and frightening. It is also a speculative fiction that explore social and political structure.
We can also able to say that, Dystopian gener, create a world or society, where life is extremely bad, because of lot many reasons. like, human misery, such as squalor, oppression, disease, overcrowding, environmental destruction, war, terror, political issues etc. We find such kind of Dystopian portrayal in novel, films, video games, comic books, graphic novels, short stories etc. Let me discuss some of the central Characteristics of Dystopian literature.
Characteristics of Dystopian Literature :-
1) Government control
2) Environmental destruction
3) Technological control
4) Survival
5) Loss of Individualism
1) Government control :-
If we see any Dystopian literature. We find that, Government play vital role. Generally in Dystopian literature, either there is no Government or an oppressive ruling government. If we see in Ursula k. Le Guin's novel 'Always Coming home'. Written in 1985. Which is a science - Fiction. In this work we find the kesh repudiate a government system and are self organized. Also '1984' by George Orwell, the world is under complete government control. And we a find a very popular dialogue, "Big Brother is Watching you". Which means, people are under the strict government watch, who gave them no rights to do anything individually.
2) Technological Control :-
In Dystopian World, we find extremeness of technology, and mainly technology and tools work for improving every day life. Technology was controlling by humans. Sometimes technology also creates fear and unemployment for people of that particular Dystopian Society. For example :
1. Aldous Huxley's 'Brave new World'. Which was written in 1932, in this work Huxley explores danger of technology.
2. Work of Philip K. Dick named 'Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?' Also talk about dangers of advanced technology. There are many robots who disguise as humans, and mass extinction led to artificial animal.
3. A novel written in 2002, titled 'Feed' by M. T. Anderson, is also Dystopian novel. Talks about a computer network, that is implanted into the brain of 73% of American Citizens.
3) Environmental Disaster :-
Dystopian novels and works are mainly set in destroyed places, or a places which are close to destruction. Mainly the settings are in gloomy, dark places. For example :
1. The Maza Running, a series by James Dashner, shows that how Dystopian world had been destroyed by massive solar flares and coronal mass ejection. In first book of series, a group of a teenage boys are stuck in an imaginary place called 'Glade' and try to find their way.
4) Survival :-
Dystopian story is also about survival of human. For example :
1. William Golding's 'Lord of the flies', written in 1954. It talks about a group of school boys, that abandoned on Island, and struggle of that boys to built civilization and fight for survival.
2. Jeanne Duprau's 'The city of Ember', which set in underground world, known as Ember. The city is constructed and impending disaster. And there where a group of teenagers who working to find their way out.
5) Lost of Individual :-
Dystopian brings loss of individualism and represent needs of society, Rather than individual. For example :
1. 'We' by Yevgeny Zamyatin, written in 1920, follow a spacecraft engineer, living in the future nation called one state.
2. 'Fahrenheit 451' by Ray Bradbury, written in 1953. Mainly talks about protagonist, who is a fireman and whose job is to burn books.
2] India in 20th century literature
We find the references of India in many works of English writers. They portrayed both the good and bad side of India and its people. Here i shortly discuss about some of that works.
1) A passage to India :-
This novel was written by English author E. M. Forster in 1924. Which is set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian Independence movement in 1920s. The novel was also won many awards and selected as one of the hundred great works of 20th century English literature by the modern library. Also won James Tail Black memorial prize for fiction in 1924.
The novel deals with political occupation of India by the British army and concluding relations between the English and native population. Also described friendship between two main characters Cyril Fielding and Dr. Aziz, with all it's obstacles.
2) To the lighthouse :-
In this novel India was represented as a exotic place, where lies great happiness, romance and adventures. We also found a character Augustus Carmichael have strong desire to go to India. And desire to get achievements. Which shows that India is portrayed as a place of desire. And it is also mentioned that, in India Jewelry is something which is related with richness and pride. And even India was very famous for it's jwelery and spices. This how we find india in this novel by Virginia Woolf.
3) Siddhartha (1922) :-
The novel Siddhartha was written by Herman Hesse in 1922. The novel is set six centuries, before the birth of Christ. In ancient India at the time of Gotama the Buddha. In this book, Author described about religion in India and as specially Brahmins. The entire story is about Siddhartha, who seeks for the meaning of life and embarks on a quest to find enlightenment. All the characters Herman, take from India and write a novel. Mainly the places or settings are also from India.
Conclusion :-
There are some other books also, which mentions India and it's people, places,etc. Books Like H. G. Wells's, 'Around the world in eighty Days'. Written in 1872-73. Indian since ancient time, influenced many countries and that reflects in the works of the writers of various countries.
Words :- 1234
Images :- 4
Videos :- 3
References :-
1) masterclass.com
2) Wikipedia.com
3) www.grin.com
4)vishaljasoliya.slideshare. com
5) sparksnotes.com
