ENGL 2901

Utopia: From Thomas More to Science Fiction

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2019-2020.

A "utopia" is an imaginary world, a fantastical "no-place" that conveys important truths about the real world. This course surveys the literary genre of utopia from the Renaissance to today, focusing on writers who invent new worlds through fiction. In Thomas More's Utopia, we explore utopia's emergence in the sixteenth century in response to European political upheaval and New World exploration, then turn to how British and American writers transform utopian visions in the following centuries. Finally, we consider how utopia is re-worked in science fiction's paradoxical emphasis on both fantasy and realism. Topics include the politics of gender and the purpose of technology in a perfect society, and the wildly inventive forms of utopian fiction by Shakespeare, Margaret Cavendish, Jonathan Swift, Aldous Huxley, Ursula LeGuin, and Philip K. Dick.

When Offered Spring.

Breadth Requirement (HB)
Distribution Category (LA-AS)

Comments This course may be used as one of the three pre-1800 courses required of English majors.

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