Description
Book SynopsisThe 500th anniversary of Thomas More's Utopia has directed attention toward the importance of utopianism. This book investigates the possibilities of cooperation between the humanities and the social sciences in the analysis of 20th century and contemporary utopian phenomena. The papers deal with major problems of interpreting utopias, the relationship of utopia and ideology, and the highly problematic issue as to whether utopia necessarily leads to dystopia. Besides reflecting the interdisciplinary nature of contemporary utopian investigations, the eleven essays effectively represent the constructive attitudes of utopian thought, a feature that not only defines late 20th- and 21st-century utopianism, but is one of the primary reasons behind the rising importance of the topic. The volume's originality and value lies not only in the innovative theoretical approaches proposed, but also in the practical application of the concept of utopia to a variety of phenomena which have been neglected in the utopian studies paradigm, especially to the rarely discussed Central European texts and ideologies.
Trade ReviewScience Fiction Studies "
Utopian Horizons is a recent contribution to the ever-expanding field of utopian studies. It seeks to engage with utopianism specifically from a Central European perspective, rupturing the sometimes hegemonic view of utopian studies as a discipline dominated by the Anglo-American/Western European traditions. I am pleased that work such as this is being produced and I hope that there is more to come, because it is all too easy to fall victim to tunnel vision even as one is acutely aware that there is a world beyond one’s own. I was energized, intrigued, and productively perplexed by many of these chapters. They are extremely well researched and many are eloquently written, which is not always the case with academic writing. This is a wonderful collection and will appeal not only to specialists, but also to readers interested in how to make the world a better place without letting it go to hell." * Science Fiction Studies *
Table of ContentsIntroduction – Utopianism: Literary and Political Zsolt Czigányik PART ONE Utopia with a Political Focus Ideology and Utopia: Karl Mannheim and Paul Ricoeur Lyman Tower Sargent When Does Utopianism Produce Dystopia? Gregory Claeys From the Political Utopia to the Philosophical Utopia—and Rescuing the Political Utopia, on Second Thought Fátima Vieira Third Way Utopianism: Anarcho-Democratic and Liberal Socialist Ideas in Central Europe András Bozóki and Miklós Sükösd George Orwell, Soviet Studies, and the “Soviet Subjectivity” Debate Dmitry Halavach PART TWO Utopia with a Literary Focus Marxist Utopianism and Modern Irish Drama, 1884–1904: William Morris, W. B. Yeats, and G. B. Shaw Eglantina Remport Civil Religion as Utopian Ideology: A Case Study of H. G. Wells Károly Pintér Negative Utopia in Central Europe: Kazohinia and the Dystopian Political Climate of the 1930s Zsolt Czigányik What They Were Going to Do About It: Huxley’s Peace Pamphlet in Pre-War Hungary Ákos Farkas The City in Ruins: Post-9/11 Representations of Cataclysmic New York on Film Vera Benczik Realism and Utopianism Reconsidered: A Political Theoretical Reading of A Song of Ice and Fire Zoltán Gábor Szűcs Afterword Zsolt Czigányik
