Description
Book SynopsisThe book situates itself in the fields of philosophy, political theory, aesthetics and theories of art, linking its discussions of fictional dystopias to debates on ongoing crises. It asks: Are dystopias a useful tool for imagining ways out of sombre situations or do they prevent us from engaging in transformative action? The book consists of a thorough introduction and three major sections: 1. Dystopias of Meaninglessness, 2. Techno-Euphoria vs. Terror of Technology, and 3. Dystopias Come True? The individual chapters discuss, among other things, liberalism and conservatism, “luxury communism”, pandemics, technology-induced anxiety, empty speech, ethics, film, literature, architecture and music.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List of Figures Notes on Contributors Introduction: Dystopias and Beyond Martta Heikkilä, Irina Poleschuk and Erika Ruonakoski PART 1: Dystopias of Meaninglessness 1 Waiting for Catastrophe in the Dark: Public Obscurity and Viktor Pelevin’s Homo Zapiens Ari-Elmeri Hyvönen 2 Work and Play: the Dystopic Environments in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil Martta Heikkilä 3 A Brave New World in the Making: Fully Automated Luxury Communism as a Political Dystopia Joonas Martikainen PART 2: Techno-Euphoria vs. Terror of Technology 4 Thematising Technological Dystopias and Anxiety through Hans Blumenberg Michał Wieczorek 5 The Limits of Control: Industrial Dystopias and Techno Utopias in Mika Vainio’s Music Janne Vanhanen 6 Can the Future Be Cancelled? On the Technological Dystopia in Melanie Gilligan’s The Common Sense Saara Hacklin PART 3: Dystopias Come True? 7 The Liberal Dystopia: Joseph de Maistre’s Grim Visions on the Enlightenment and Democracy Marianne Sandelin 8 Ethical Temporality, Justice, and Dystopia of Being-for-the-Other: Between Ethics and Politics Irina Poleshchuk 9 Experiential Shifts in the covid-19 Pandemic: from the Epochē to Interspace and “Normality” Erika Ruonakoski Index
