The Role of Technology in the Evolution of Utopian Thought

Sean Morgan

Date of Award

2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Myhill, Nova

Keywords

Utopia, Dystopia, Technology

Area of Concentration

English

Abstract

This project is an examination of the co-maturation of Utopian literature and technology, and an evaluation of the possibility that the Dystopian genre is the result of the increasing presence of technology in the real world and in literature. The thesis first examines technology as a sign of a healthy society in Thomas More's Utopia, and as a mechanism of positive change in Francis Bacon's New Atlantis. Further examination finds Jonathan Swift warning of the dangerous possibility that societies might mistake technology for real social progress in Gulliver's Travels, while William Morris suggests that technology is detrimental to society in News from Nowhere. H. G. Wells proposes technology as a model for ideal social exchange but warns of its potential for misuse as he suggests the need for kineticism in Utopia. When Marxist criticism is applied in several of these contexts, technology can be observed functioning as a commodity. However, George Orwell's 1984 sees technology instead as a tool for social constraint as Guy Debord views the spectacle in Society of the Spectacle. William Gibson addresses the idea that technology, as simulacrum for social exchange, has changed the nature of Utopian models in postmodern society. This thesis demonstrates that even though Dystopia is not ideal, it is necessary for creating ideal states in a postmodern context.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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