DYSTOPIA: DEFINITION dys-/dus- (Latin/Greek roots: 'bad' or 'abnormal') + -topos (Greek root: 'place') = 'bad place' eu- (Greek root: 'good') / ou- (Greek root: 'not') + -topos (Greek root: 'place') = 'good/no place' dystopia n. an imaginary wretched place, the opposite of utopia utopia n. a place or state of ideal perfection, the opposite of dystopia
What is a dystopia? Well, that question is not as easily answered as one might think. To put it as simply as possible, a dystopian depiction can be described as a dark vision of the future. That is hardly a satisfactory definition, though. Unfortunately, the different definitions that are available are not as congruent as one might wish. A few examples: •
"An imaginary, wretched place, the opposite of Utopia." (Cassel's Consice English Dictionary)
•
"An imaginary place where people lead dehumanised and often fearful lives." (Merriam-Webster's On-line)
•
"The word 'dystopia' is the commonly used antonym of 'eutopia' [i.e. utopia] and denotes that class of hypothetical societies containing images of worlds worse than our own. [...] Dystopian images are almost invariably images of future society, pointing fearfully at the way the world is supposedly going in order to provide urgent propaganda for a change in direction." (Grolier's Multimedia Encyclopedia of Science Fiction)
•
"[...] dystopian fiction looks at totalitarian dictatorship as its prototype, a society that puts its whole population continuously on trial, a society that finds its essence in concentration camps, that is, in disenfranchising and enslaving entire classes of its own citizens, a society that, by glorifying and justifying violence by law, preys upon itself. [...] dystopian society is what we would today call dysfunctional; it reveals the lack of the very qualities that traditionally justify or set the raison d'être for a community." (Erika Gottlieb's Dystopian Fiction East and West: Universe of Terror and Trial)
•
"A dystopia is any society considered to be undesirable, for any of a number of reasons. The term was coined as a converse to a Utopia, and is most usually used to refer to a fictional (often near-future) society where current social trends are taken to nightmarish extremes. […] Often, the difference between a Utopia and a Dystopia is in the author's point of view. […] Dystopias are frequently written as warnings, or as satires, showing current trends extrapolated to a nightmarish conclusion. […] A dystopia is all too closely connected to current-day society." (Wikipedia On-line Dictionary)
Wikipedia's definition is, albeit somewhat lengthy, the most suitable one for an instrumental approach to the dystopian concept. It PIN-POINTS ESSENTIAL FEATURES: • • • •
Dystopian Dystopian Dystopian Dystopian
societies are undesirable or even horrifying. societies are usually futuristic and fictional. depictions can be regarded as warnings. fiction is both about today and tomorrow.
• •
Dystopian fiction comments on our own society. Dystopian and utopian concepts are relative.
A dystopia is A) an imaginary society that B) comments on our own society and C) a majority of us would fear to live in. Imaginary, as dystopian stories reflect, not depict contemporary society. An example: Enemy of the State might resemble Nineteen Eighty-four in certain respects, but it still depicts our own society, albeit in a speculative manner. A dystopia that is not imaginary to one degree or another actually lacks the raison d'ĂŞtre for a dystopia, namely to explore possibilities and probabilities. Society, as dystopian stories discuss major tendencies in contemporary society. An example: In Lord of the Rings, Sauron's rule is truly dystopian, but it does not really comment on our own society. Another example: Lord of the Flies has many dystopian qualities, but this island community cannot really be considered as a representative society. Fear, as dystopias reveal and illustrate potential and more or less plausible dangers. An example: There are obviously many dangers in the Star Wars galaxy, but few would spontaneously fear to live there. However subjective this issue may be, the aim with a dystopian depiction is to frighten and provoke. As a rule, the more realistic and alarming a dystopia is, the more frightening and provoking is it. Majority, as dystopias are positioned in relation to conventional contemporary values. An example: Some deranged individuals would probably enjoy the savage world of the Mad Max trilogy, but most of us would not. This issue can become somewhat complex when dealing with explicitly ideological dystopias or pseudo-utopian dystopias. It is important to have two other aspects in mind as well: Relativity, as Dystopia is a question of point of view and differs over time and place. For instance, the visionary man's Utopia is often the common man's Dystopia. In Hitler's Third Reich, the ruling class and its boot-licking servants probably thought they were living in Utopia, but political dissidents and concentration camp inmates were sure they were living in Dystopia. Some people may claim we are already living in Dystopia today, others may claim it is Utopia. Your Utopia might be my Dystopia and vice versa. As a common example, the world in Starship Trooper might seem attractive at first glance, but most of us would probably not enjoy living in a militarized society. Intuitiveness, as Dystopia is difficult to demarcate and define. It is a general label used simply because it is convenient and fancy. I like to compare it to the likewise arbitrary label film noir. We can intuitively tell if a movie is film noir, but not why it is film noir. Exact characteristics are often difficult to extract. Furthermore, even if we can extract exact characteristics, a depiction with strong dystopian qualities does not necessarily have to be a dystopia. For instance, Alien is not necessarily a dystopia: it hints at dystopian concepts and it definitely looks dystopian, but does it really fit any of the definitions presented above? Also, note that a dystopian depiction by no means need to take place in the future. Uchronian stories, i.e. alternative history stories, are not seldom dystopian, but take place
in the present or in the past: they tell us what could have happened. Furthermore, the year 1984 has passed, but George Orwell's harrowing vision might still come true in the future, albeit in a different shape. On a similar note, dystopian fiction is not necessarily science fiction. For instance, compare Nineteen Eighty-four with Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Do they really have anything in common? If you are writing an essay or a thesis, you should also have in mind that it is malapropos to call dystopian fiction science fiction in certain academic circles. Personally, I couldn't care less, but then again, I'm not a university professor...
DYSTOPIA: CHARACTERISTICS SETTINGS Dystopian depictions are always imaginary. Although Hitler's Third Reich and Stalin's Soviet Union certainly qualify as horror societies, they are still no dystopias. The very purpose of a dystopia is to discuss, not depict contemporary society or at least contemporary mankind in general. Stories like Taxi Driver and Enemy of the State may have dystopian qualities, but they still depict reality, however twisted the prerequisites of those stories might be. Dystopian depictions may borrow features from reality, but the purpose is to debate, criticize or explore possibilities and probabilities. Dystopia is not really about tomorrow, but rather about today or sometimes yesterday. Nevertheless, dystopian stories take place in the future in most cases. The year 1984 may have past, but George Orwell's horror story described a plausible future scenario when it was published for the first time in 1949 and it may still come true in a not too distant future. Interesting exceptions from this rule are uchronias, so called What-if? stories, like Fatherland. Dystopias have always been a powerful rhetorical tool. They have been used and abused by politicians, thus making dystopian stories controversial. The anti-totalitarianism in Nineteen Eighty-Four is explicit, but the anti-Reaganism in Neuromancer is implicit. The war-ridden world in the Mad Max trilogy is obviously a Dystopia, but it would be ridiculous to call it a political statement, although one can claim it is a warning regarding the dangers of anarchy and Social-Darwinism.
THEMES The leitmotif of dystopias has always been oppression and rebellion. In Nineteen EightyFour, the pseudo-communistic party Ingsoc's oppression of the people is obvious, but the multi-national mega-corprotions' oppression of the people in Neuromancer is more subtle. The oppressors are usually more or less faceless, as in THX-1138, but may sometimes be personified, as in Blade Runner. The oppressors are almost always much more powerful than the rebels. Consequently, dystopian tales often become studies in survival. In Neuromancer it is simply a question of staying alive, in Brave New World it is a question of staying human. In Nineteen EightyFour it is even a matter of remaining an individual with own thoughts. The hero, because it is usually not a heroine, often faces utter defeat or sometimes Pyrrhic victory, a significant feature of dystopian tales.
As the citizens of dystopian societies often live in fear, they become paranoid and egoistical, almost like hunted animals. Dystopian citizens experience a profound feeling of being monitored, shadowed, chased, betrayed or manipulated. The factors which trigger this paranoia may be very evident and explicit like in Brazil or more diffuse and implicit like in Blade Runner. The most extreme example of paranoia is probably the Thought Police and the thoughtcrime concept in Nineteen Eighty-four. As a result of this fearful atmosphere, dystopian heroes are not seldom monsters in many respects. The dehumanization of society may also be connected to the benefits and hazards of technological progress. Cyberspace cowboys refer to their bodies as "meat" and blade runners hunt artificial, but completely sentient beings like animals. In Dystopia, the borderline of humanity is often blurred and the very concept of humanity distorted. Finally, dystopian stories tend to explore the concept of reality. Rick Deckard in Blade Runner is not sure if he is a human being or a bio-mechanical replica. Case in Neuromancer sometimes cannot distinguish cyberspace from reality. Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four is forced to learn that two plus two make five. In many dystopian tales the people in general and the heroes in particular get manipulated beyond reality.
AESTHETICS Dystopian stories frequently take place in landscapes which diminish people, like large cities with mastodontic architecture or vast wastelands devastated by war and pollution. Dystopian societies are usually, but far from always, battered and worn-out. They may be colorless like Nineteen Eighty-Four or kaleidoscopic like Blade Runner, but always visually obtrusive. For uncertain reasons, dystopian movies often use film noir features like dim rooms, rain wet asphalt, disturbing contrasts, symbolic shadows etc. Unproportionaly much of the action takes place during night in many dystopian stories. Possibly, this reflects the thematic relationship between dystopian fiction and film noir. Generally speaking, the environment plays an active role in dystopian depictions. The environment is not only a fancy background, but emphasises the message. A prominent example is Blade Runner: there can be no doubt in the viewer that USA has become completely commercialised and that the world is in a state of terminal decay.
DYSTOPIA: LIST 0-9 12 Monkeys (M) 1990 * (TV) 28 Days Later (M) 334 * (N) 1985 * (N) A Aeon Flux * (N) A.I. (M) Air Trust, The * (N)
Akira (AM) (CA) Alien (MS) Alphaville * (M) Android (M) Angel Station * (N) Animatrix (AM) Anthem * (N) Ape And Essence * (TV) Apocalyptica - After The Chaos * (AM) Appleseed * (AM) Argentosoma * (AM) Artificial Kid, The * (N) B Back To The Future II (M) Barb Wire (C) (MA) Battlefield Earth (N) (MA) Battle Royal (N) (M) Berserker * (A) Beyond This Horizon * (N) Big O * (AM) Black Magic * (AM) Blade Runner (MA: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep) (CA) (CG) Blindness * (N) Blithedale Romance, The * (N) Blue Gender * (AM) Boy and His Dog, A * (S) Brave New World (N) (TVM) (RP) Brazil (M) Bulldozer Rising * (N) Burning Chrome (A) C Caduceus Wild * (N) Camp Concentration * (N) Canticle for Leibowitz, A * (N) (RP) Catspaw * (N) Caves of Steel, The * (N) (RP) Celestial Railroad, The * (S) Changes, The * (TV) Cherry 2000 (M) Children of Men, The (M) Christendom * (N) Christmas Banquet, The * (S) City Of Endless Night * (N) City of Lost Children, The (M) Clockwork Orange, A (N) (MA) Colossus: The Forbin Project * (M) (RP) Count Zero (N) Cowboy Bebop * (AM) Creed For The Third Millennium, A (N) Crucible Island * (N) Cyborg (MS) D Damnation Alley * (M) Dangaioh * (AM) Dark Angel (TV) Dark City (M) Dark Star (M) Day After, The * (TV) Daybreak * (TV) Day Of The Triffids, The (N) (M) (TV) (RP)
Days To Come (TV) Death Race 2000 (M) Def-Con 4 * (M) Delicatessen (M) Demolition Man (M) Diamond Age * (N) Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep? (N) (M: Blade Runner) Domination, The * (NS) 1) Dominion * (AM) Doomsday For Dyson * (TV) Doomwatch * (TV) Doppelgangers * (N) Dr. Strangelove (M) E Earth Abides * (N) (RP) Earth's Holocaust, The * (S) Eclipse * (N) Eclipse Penumbra * (N) Egotism Or The Bosom Serpent * (S) Elvissey * (N) End Of The Dream, The * (N) End Of This Day's Business, The * (N) Equilibrium (M) Escape 2000 * (M) Escape From New York (MS) Exterminators Of The Year 3000 * (M) F Facial Justice * (N) Fatherland (N) (TVM) (RP) Fahrenheit 451 (N) (MA) (RP) Fifth Element, The (M) Fifth Head of Cerberus, The * (N) Fifth Sacred Thing, The * (N) Fire In The Sun, A * (N) Fist of the North Star * (AM) Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (N) Forever War, The (N) Freejack (M) Full Metal Panic * (AM) Futurological Congress * (N) G Gattaca (M) Geboren 1999 * (M) Generator Gowl * (AM) Genesis Survivor Gaeia * (AM) Ghost in the Shell * (AM) Girl From Tomorrow, The * (TV) Giver, The * (N) Gorgon Child * (N) Growing Up in Tier 3000 * (N) Gun, With Occasional Music * (N) H Hack Sign (AKA .hack//SIGN) * (AM) Handmaid's Tale, The (N) (MA) (O) Hardware (M) Hardwired * (N) Harrison Bergeron * (S) (MA) Heatseaker * (N)
Heavy Metal * (C) (AM) Hell's Pavement * (N) Herland * (N) He, She, It * (N) Hothouse * (N) House in the Dark, The * (N) Hunter's Moon * (RP) Hunting Season, The * (S) (RP) I I-0 * (A) Idoru (N) Impostor (S) (MA) (RP) In The Country Of Last Things (N) Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (M) (R) Iron Heel, The * (N) Islands in the Net * (N) It Can't Happen Here * (N) It Happened Here * (M) J Jagged Orbit, The * (N) Japan Sinks (N) (M) Jennifer Government * (N) Jetee, La * (SF) Jin-Roh * (AM) Johnny Mnemonic (S) (MA) Johnny Zed * (N) Joy Makers, The * (N) Judge Dredd (C) (MA) K Kallocain (N) Kafka Effekt, The * (N) Knights * (M) L Land Under England * (N) Last Battle, The * (M) Last Child, The * (TV) Last Rose of Summer, The * (N) (RP) Last Ship, The * (N) Last Will Of Dr. Mabuse, The (M) Little Heroes * (N) Liquid Sky * (M) Logan's Run * (M) (TV) Lord Of The World * (N) Lost Traveller, The * (N) M Machine Stops, The * (S) (RP) Mad Max (MS) Make Room! Make Room! (N) (MA: Soylent Green) Man In The High Castle, The (N) Marah and Dann * (N) Matrix (MS) (CG) Max Headroom * (TV) Meccania * (N) Metropolis (N) (MA) Millennium (M) 2) Mindplayers * (N)
Minority Report (S) (MA) Mirrorshades (A) Modern Utopia, A * (N) Mona Lisa Overdrive (N) Moon 44 (M) N Naked Lunch, The (N) (MA) Neon City * (M) Neuromancer (N) (CA) (CG) New Adam and Eve, The * (S) Nineteen Eighty-four (N) (TVP) (MA) (R) (TP) (RP) Noir (N) Nova Express * (N) O Offshore Island, The * (N) Omega Man, The (N) (MA) One * (TV) On The Beach (N) (M) Oryx and Crake (N) Outland (M) (NA) Overdrawn At The Memory Bank * (M) O-Zone (N) P Panic In Year Zero * (M) Paradise And Iron * (S) Philosophical Investigation, A (N) Planet Of The Apes (N) (MA) (MS) (TV) Player Piano * (N) Postman, The * (N) (MA) Preferred Risk * (N) Prisoner, The * (TV) Psion * (N) Q Quatermass * (M) (TV) Quintet * (M) R Rappicinni's Daughter * (S) Red Alert * (N) (MA: Dr. Strangelove) 'Repent, Harlequin,' said the Ticktockman * (S) The Republic * (PD) Resident Evil * (CG) (MA) Resurrection Day * (N) Richard III (MA) Riddle Of The Tower, The * (N) Robocop (MS) (TV) (CA) Robotech * (AM) Robot Jox * (TV) Rollerball (M) (R) Running Man, The (N) (MA) R.U.R. * (TP) S Sandland * (C) Scryed * (C) Seventh Victim, The * (N) (MA: Tenth Victim, The) (RP)
Sheep Look Up, The * (N) Shockwave Rider, The * (N) Silent Running (M) Six-String Samurai * (M) Slipstream (M) Snow Crash (N) Softwear, Wetwear * (N) Songs From The Second Floor (M) Soylent Green (MA: Make Room! Make Room!) Space Merchants, The (N) (RP) SS-GB * (N) Stalker (S) (MA) Stand, the * (N) (TV) Stand On Zanzibar (N) Stepford Wives, The * (N) (MA) (R) Starship Troopers (N) (MA) Stars My Destination, The * (N) (RP) Steel Breakfast Area, The * (N) Strange Days (M) Streetlethal * (N) Survivors * (TV) Swan Song* (N) Swastika Night * (N) Syndic, The (N) Synners * (N) T Tank Girl (C) (MA) TekWar * (TV) (N) Tenth Victim, The * (MA: Seventh Victim, The) Terminator, The (MS) The World, The Flesh And The Devil * (M) Things To Come * (N) (MA) This Island Earth * (M) This Perfect Day * (N) Threads * (TVM) THX-1138 (M) (R) Time Machine, The (N) (MA) (R) (RP) Tomorrow File, The * (N) Total Recall (N) (MA) (RP) Trial, The (N) (TVM) Tripods, The (TV) Two-Handed Engine * (S) Two Hours To Doom * (N) (MA: Dr. Strangelove) U Unborn Tomorrow * (N) Under the Black Rainbow * (N) Until The End Of The World (M) USSA * (N) Utopia (N) V V (TV) (C) Vampire Wars * (AM) Very Private Life, A * (N) V For Vendetta * (C) Vickers * (N) Videodrome (N) (MA) Voice Of The Whirlwind * (N) Vulcan's Hammer * (N) W
Walk To The End Of The World * (N) Wanting Seed, The * (N) Warday (N) War Game, The * (M) 3) War Of the Worlds, The (N) (MA) (R) (RP) Waterworld (M) Wave, The (S) (TVM) We (N) Welcome To The Monkeyhouse * (S) Westworld (M) When Gravity Fails * (N) When The Sleeper Awakes * (N) Wild Card (N) Wild Goose Chase, The * (N) Wild Palms * (TV) Wolfbane (N) Woman At The Edge Of Time * (N) World Inside, The * (N) World of Glory (SF) World War III * (TV) X X * (AM) Y Young Goodman Brown * (S) Z Zardos * (M)
A = Anthology or Collection AM = Animated/Anime Movie(s)/Series C = Comic or Manga CA = Comic Adaptation CG = Computer Game M = Movie(s) MS = Movie Series MA = Movie Adaptation N = Novel(s) or Novella(s) NS = Novel Series NA = Novel Adaptation O = Opera PD = Philosophical Disertation R = Remake(s) RP = Radio Play S = Short Story SF = Short Film TP = Theater Play TV = TV series TVM = TV Movie TVP = TV Play
DYSTOPIA: CATEGORIZATION This is an attempt to categories dystopias. It is a difficult task as dystopias often are complex constructions and tend to borrow components from other dystopias. For instance, Blade Runner can, to one degree or another, be said to contain elements from cyberpunk dystopias, tech noir dystopias, overpopulation dystopias, capitalistic dystopias and so on and so forth. Consequently, one depiction may occur in several different categories.
TOTALITARIAN DYSTOPIAS As the name suggests, totalitarian societies utilizes total control over and demands total commitment from the citizens, usually hiding behind a political ideology. Totalitarian states are, in most cases, ruled by party bureaucracies backed up by cadres of secret police and armed forces. The citizens are often closely monitored and rebellion is always punished mercilessly. Stories taking place in totalitarian dystopias usually depict the hopeless struggle of isolated dissidents. Totalitarian dystopias have, in general, dark psychological depths and strong political qualities. Hitler's Third Reich and Stalin's Soviet Union were real examples of such societies.
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Examples: Nineteen Eighty-Four (novel; TV play; motion picture), We (novel), Fatherland (novel; TV movie).
BUREAUCRATIC DYSTOPIAS Bureaucratic dystopias, or technocratic dystopias, are strictly regulated and hierarchial societies, thus related to totalitarian dystopias. Where totalitarian regimes strive to achieve complete control, bureaucratic regimes only strive to achieve absolute power to enforce laws. When totalitarian regimes tend to found their own laws, bureaucratic regimes tend to defend old laws. The law always seem to stand in conflict with rational thinking and human behaviour. To change status quo, even everyday procedures, is a long and difficult process for the citizens. It goes without saying such dystopias have strong satirical qualities and to some extent surreal qualities as well.
Brazil
Examples: Brazil (motion picture), The Trial (novel; several TV plays; TV movie).
CYBERPUNK DYSTOPIAS A cyberpunk society is essentially a drastically exaggerated version of our own. Cyberpunk is a heterogeneous genre, but most dystopias have the following settings: the technological evolution has accelerated, environmental collapse is imminent, the boards of multi-national corporations are the real governments, urbanization has reached new levels and crime is beyond control. Important, but not necessary essential, concepts in cyberpunk are cybernetics, artificial enhancements of body and mind, and cyberspace, the global computer network and ultimate digital illusion. Cyberpunk stories are often street-wise and violent. It is debatably
Blade Runner
the most influential dystopian genre ever. Examples: Neuromancer (novel; comic), Blade Runner (novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; motion picture; comic; computer game), Matrix (motion picture), Strange Days (motion picture).
TECH NOIR DYSTOPIAS Tech noir is a hybrid between high-tech sci-fi and hard-boiled film noir. It is mainly a cinematic genre, more seldom literary, and as such difficult to demarcate and define, just like film noir. Tech noir is related to cyberpunk and often labeled as such, but tech noir dystopias usually have more psychological and existential depth. The atmosphere is more mesmerising, threatening, gloomy and melancholic than in average cyberpunk and the approach on technology, urbanisation and environment is much more complex. The spectacular contexts in tech noir dystopias are mainly backgrounds for intellectual experiments, in most cases extremely innovative and imaginative. Examples: Blade Runner (novel: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?; motion picture; comic; computer game), Dark City (motion picture), The City of Lost Children (motion picture), Brazil (motion picture).
Dark City
OFF-WORLD DYSTOPIAS This is not an established label, but is supposed to cover all dystopias located to outer space. In these stories, man's exploration of the universe did not become the happy adventure everyone expected. Colonization of other planets equals heavy industrialization and interstellar war between distant civilizations equals mechanized slaughter. Off-world dystopias are often closely related to cyberpunk dystopias or at least tend to borrow cyberpunk features. It goes without saying this is a heterogeneous genre and most alien horror stories technically belong here. Considering the almost unlimited possibilities, this genre is underdeveloped. Aliens
Examples: Alien (motion picture: part of series; novellisation; computer game), The Forever War (novel), Outland (motion picture; novellisation).
CRIME DYSTOPIAS Crime dystopias may have different settings. These societies have been infested with grave criminality and the authorities are about to lose control or have already lost it. This criminality may span from street crime to organized crime, more seldom governmental crime such as corruption and abuse of power. The authorities often use drastic and inhumane measures to fight the moral decay, perhaps out of desperation, perhaps out of necessity. The society is often in imminent danger of becoming totalitarian. Crime dystopias are not seldom political statements, usually
A Clockwork Orange
of a radical and controversial nature. Examples: A Clockwork Orange (novel; motion picture), The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse (novel; motion picture), The Escape from New York (motion picture: part of series).
OVERPOPULATION DYSTOPIAS The population of the world has grown dramatically and the limited resources of our planet are exhausted. Mankind is living in despair and society is in imminent danger of becoming or has already become social-darwinistic. There is an enormous wealth gap between the rich and the poor, and military and police are used to control the starving masses. There are many parallels between overpopulation dystopias and cyberpunk dystopias, especially when speaking of environment and urbanization. This kind of dystopia is rather rare, which is surprising: it may become an imminent problem in the near future. Examples: Make Room! Make Room! (novel; motion picture: Soylent Green), Stand on Zanzibar (novel).
Soylent Green
LEISURE DYSTOPIAS Leisure dystopias are probably best described as utopias gone wretched or failed paradise-engineering projects. In these societies, all problems have been solved, at least officially, and all citizens are living in wealth and happiness. Unfortunately, this is often achieved by suppressing individuality, art, religion, intellectualism and so on and so forth. Conditioning, consumption, designer-drugs, light entertainment and similar methods are widely used in order to combat existential misery. Conformity is encouraged as it makes it easier to control the population. The government's means of control are always of a very subtle nature and open repression is basically nonexist. Leisure dystopias are not very common nowadays, probably as Utopia is almost extinct as concept.
Brave New World
Examples: Brave New World (novel; TV movie), Demolition Man (motion picture), The Joy Makers (novel), Things to Come (motion picture).
APOCALYPTIC DYSTOPIAS Mankind, or sometimes a single nation or an ethnic group, are facing Armageddon, be it nuclear war, gigantic meteorites or nature disasters. The main focus may be political, but nevertheless may apocalyptic stories expose the dark psychological depths of mankind. The victims of the apocalypse may be egoistic, short-sighted, cynical and opportunistic, even in the very moment of annihilation. Actually, it is questionable if apocalyptic stories really are dystopian, but they usually have strong dystopian qualities. So-called techno thrillers, WWIII scenarios, would technically belong to this category. Examples: Dr. Strangelove (novel: Red Alert / Two Hours to Doom; motion picture), Japan Sinks (novel; motion picture), Until the End of the World (motion picture).
Doctor Strangelove
POST-APOCALYPTIC DYSTOPIAS The cause is nuclear war, environmental collapse or deadly epidemics. The effect is usually anarchy and survival of the fittest, and not seldom a regression to feudalism as well. Many, although far from all, stories taking place in post-apocalyptic dystopias are simple action adventures with few, if any, depths. There are often obvious parallels to epic western movies as well as a grim sense of humor. A common plot includes a cynical lone-wolf anti-hero who reluctantly aids a small community which is trying to re-establish civilization and has to fight brutal and savage bands of raiders. Post-apocalyptic dystopias are often classified as cyberpunk, something I find questionable. Examples: Road Warrior (motion picture: part of series), Waterworld (motion picture), The Omega Man (motion picture), Warday (novel), A Canticle for Leibowitz (novel).
Waterworld
ALIEN DYSTOPIAS Earth has become occupied or infiltrated by another species from some distant solar system. The take-over is not seldom of a stealthy kind, an obvious parallel to Cold War paranoia. In many alien dystopias, the Nazi rule in Europe during WWII is an evident source of inspiration: oppression and rebellion, resistance and collaboration. The occupants almost always display a grave lack of empathy and tend to treat human beings as worthless slaves, primitive animals or even mindless prey. At their very best, alien dystopias deal with culture shocks in intelligent and imaginative ways. The Tripods
Examples: V (TV series), The Tripods (TV series), Battlefield Earth (novel; motion picture), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (motion picture; two remakes).
SURREAL DYSTOPIAS Those dystopias are perhaps better described as twisted dreamscapes. They are more or less dark, claustrophobic societies on the borderline of reality and tend to be diminished to suggestive backgrounds for personal transformations. The hero always lose orientation under the influence of e.g. paranoia, insanity, disease, drugs, perversion or violence. Those dreamscapes are perhaps not real dystopias, but they definitely have dystopian qualities and interesting psychological depths. Surreal dystopias often borrow aesthetic features from film noir and tech noir. Examples: The Naked Lunch (novel; motion picture), Videodrome (novel; motion picture).
Videodrome
UCHRONIAN DYSTOPIAS
Uchronian stories are alternative histories, so-called What if? stories. In most cases, uchronian dystopias deal with different outcomes of World War II and the Cold War. Besides being interesting intellectual experiments, they tend to explore nightmare societies in suggestive ways and emphasize the importance of fighting such systems. Uchronias often have an impressive accuracy when dealing with historical facts. This is basically the only dystopian category in which the stories explicitly may take place in the present or the past. Examples: Fatherland (novel; TV movie), SS-GB (novel), USSA (novel), The Man in the High Castle (novel).
Fatherland
MACHINE DYSTOPIAS In machine dystopias, man has become just another production asset. The workers have to adapt to the machines, and not vice versa. Consequently, work is monotonous and dangerous. Efficiency is the goal and uniformity is the means. If there are any pleasures, they equal mindless consumption. Machine dystopias express fear of technology, not seldom in a naive manner, and it goes without saying they are more or less out-dated today. Nowadays, their artistic qualities are more interesting than their political. Nevertheless, they may say something about the conformity of modern civilization.
THX-1138
Examples: THX-1138 (motion picture), Metropolis (novel; motion picture).
PSEUDO-UTOPIAN DYSTOPIAS Your utopia might be my dystopia and vice versa. Creators of utopias often have a very clear picture of their personal paradise and they dislike people who dare to criticize their dreamscapes. Many so-called utopias are strictly hierarchal, not to say militarized or even crypto-totalitarian. The ruling class is an intellectual elite with absolute power and dissidents are threatened with disdain or even cruelty. It goes without saying that external enemies are treated mercilessly, almost sadistically. Technically, most utopias belong to this category. In my opinion, there cannot be such a thing as a perfect society, as everyone has their own picture of Utopia. Let us all keep on dreaming, though. Examples: Starship Troopers (novel; motion picture), Utopia (novel), A Modern Utopia (novel).
FEMINIST DYSTOPIAS As the name suggests, feminist dystopias deal with oppression of women. The feminist dystopia is built on patriarchal structures and the role of woman has been diminished, e.g. to house-keeping and breeding. The society is often totalitarian or at least crypto-totalitarian, sometimes with more or less obvious parallels to fascism
Starship Troopers
as represented in Mussolini's Italy and Hitler's Germany. To one degree or another, all dystopias are patriarchal, but in feminist dystopias it is explicit. This genre is debatably one of the most innovative dystopian genres nowadays, but have received a remarkably small amount of attention, all too small in my opinion.
The Handmaid's Tale
Examples: The Handmaid's Tale (novel; motion picture), Walk to the End of the World (novel), Woman at the Edge of Time (novel), Bulldozer Rising (novel).
TIME-TRAVEL DYSTOPIAS In these stories, dark ages are waiting ahead: nuclear war, artificial intelligence take-over, environmental collapse, plagues etc. In most time-travel stories, agents are sent to our time in order to change history. As the name suggests, time-travel dystopias usually focus more on how certain events can change history, rather then the actual out-come. Consequently, future nightmare societies are often vaguely described and not seldom rather shallowly crafted in such stories. The purpose is to play with our fear of the future and emphasize that we can create our own future. It goes without saying they may be quite idealistic, sometimes even naive. The Terminator
Examples: The Terminator (motion picture: part of series), 12 Monkeys (motion picture), Planet of the Apes (motion picture: part of series, remake), Millennium (novel; motion picture).
CAPITALISTIC DYSTOPIAS The capitalistic dystopia does not differ too much from our own reality. Often, it is a brutal parody of modern civilization. Capitalistic dystopias are always merciless consumption societies: commerce is the first commandment and ethics is merely a marketing tool. Mega-corporations rule the world and there are no longer such things as integrity, dignity, compassion or faith. The protagonist seldom fights the system, simply because it is impossible: the oppressor is faceless and collective. Capitalistic dystopias basically equal cyberpunk dystopias nowadays. Examples: The Space Merchants (novel), Robocop (motion picture: part of series; TV series), Neuromancer (novel; comic), Brave New World (novel; TV movie).
Robocop
DYSTOPIA: TIMELINE 1868
John Stuart Mill uses the term dystopia in a parliamentary speech, possibly the first recorded use of the term.
1879
The famous American inventor Thomas Edison introduces the electric bulb. It is an important landmark in the
electrical revolution, since it brings the electric wonder to private homes. Many a utopian writer finds inspiration in this technological development, but also many a dystopian writer. In The Begum's Fortune by Jule Verne, utopian and dystopian societies are contrasted. Whether it can be regarded as the first modern dystopia is debatable, but it certainly is an important forerunner.
1880
In USA, the first industrial execution method since the guillotine is introduced: the electric chair.
1885
The publication of the first modern post-holocaust depiction: After London by Richard Jefferies.
1895
Guglielmo Marconi introduces the first practical application of radio technology, the telegraph. It marks the beginning of the mass communication era and entails a dramatic evolution of communication and information technologies. The Lumière brothers construct the cinematograph and exhibit the first motion picture. Until the break-through of television after World War II, the motion picture will be the most effective means of propaganda.
1897
Henri Becquerel discovers the phenomenon radioactivity. The dangerous potential of this discovery is recognized almost directly.
1898
H.G. Wells's ground-breaking novel War of the Worlds, the first depiction of an alien invasion of Earth, is published.
1899
The publication of the novels The Story Of The Days To Come and When The Sleeper Wakes by H.G. Wells. They are debatably the first modern dystopias per se, probably the first elaborately ideological dystopias, and definitely the first anti-capitalistic dystopias.
1901
Guglielmo Marconi establishes the first transatlantic wireless connection, thus indirectly enabling effective global trade and warfare in the future.
1903
The Wright brothers perform the first successful flight in an aeroplane. It lasts for 12 seconds and 40 meters. The practical implementation of aircraft will revolutionize communications and warfare the following decades.
1908
The publication of H.G. Wells's The War In The Air, the first prediction of air raids against cities.
1909
Jack London's The Iron Heel reaches the bookshelves and consolidates ideological thematic in dystopian fiction. A manifesto by the Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Marinetti marks the birth of a controversial and shortlived art movement: Futurism. Its worship of dynamics and machines will indirectly influence dystopian visions for decades.
1911
Only eight years after the accomplishment of the Wright brothers, aero planes are used in combat for the first time. Italian pilots bomb two oases near Tripolis in North Africa; needless to say, the targets are civilian.
1914
In a haze of war romanticism, the European powers engage in the Great War; not only the first world war, but also the first industrialized war. It lasts for four years and results in more than 10 million dead people. The world will never be the same again. The same year, The World Set Free by H.G. Wells is published. It is the first prophecy of devastating nuclear wars that will end human civilization. The publication of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland, debated the first feministic dystopia.
1915
Chemical weapons are deployed in battle for the first time: the German army uses chlorine gas near Ypres in Belgium.
1917
A revolution in Russia gives the Bolsheviks an opportunity to seize power. Soon, they begin to call themselves Communists, and their radical political program will gradually evolve into a totalitarian nightmare. It will end over 70 years after the revolution.
1918
The Spanish Influenza, the worst pandemic ever next to the Black Death, claims more than 21 million lives, more than every 100th human being.
1919
The Bauhaus school of design is founded in Germany. It will influence art and design in a futuristic direction, and indirectly also science fiction. In the long run, the influences will be most prominent in dystopian fiction.
1920
Karel ÄŒapek's play R.U.R. introduces the term robot and the modern robot concept, and is the first elaborate depiction of a machine take-over. ÄŒapek's robots can also be seen as the first androids: they are in fact organic.
1921
The publication of the earliest major cyborg novel: The Clockwork Man by E.V. Odle. The protagonist's life is regulated by a clockwork mechanism built into his head.
1924
Yevgeny Zamiatin's My (English title: We), the first totalitarian dystopia as well as the first critical comment on the future of USSR, is published. It will serve as inspiration for Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. In the essay Daedalus, or Scienc and The Future, J.B.S. Haldane prophesies with remarkable precision about different kinds of genetic engineering in the future. It served as inspiration for e.g. Aldous Huxley's Brave New World.
1925
In Italy, the Fascists seize power, and implement the first truly totalitarian system; USSR will soon follow. Many intellectuals, even in democratic countries, praise Mussolini's new order. Franz Kafka's world-famous novel Der Prozess is published. The pessimistic perspective on modern society basically revolutionizes literary fiction. It influences dystopian fiction in many respects, albeit usually indirectly; some intellectuals will even label the novel per se as dystopian. The Paris World's Fair can be regarded as the official starting-point of art deco. This aesthetic current will be dominant in design and architecture for decades, including such expressions in science fiction cinema. Illustrative modern examples are Cloud City in The Empire Strikes Back and the Tyrell Pyramid in Blade Runner.
1926
The Scotsman John Baird conducts the first successful television transmission, thus introducing the most effective means of mass propaganda and mass marketing so far in human history. Within a decade, regular television transmissions have begun in London, Paris, Berlin and New York. Première of Fritz Lang's mastodontic movie Metropolis, the first serious science fiction movie, as well as the first dystopian movie. It sets a new standard for cinema in general, and futuristic cinema in particular.
1929
Capitalistic break-down: On the so-called Black Sunday, 80 million dollars disappear from the American economy due to stock exchange mania. It entails severe depression, social unrest and indirectly also autocratic take-overs around the world.
1930
In the novel City Of The Living Dead by Laurence Manning and Fletcher Pratt, artificial illusionary worlds Ă la virtual reality or cyberspace are introduced. Interestingly enough, the novel focuses on the escapist dangers of such technology.
1932
The publication of Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, the first depiction of failed paradise-engineering. Among many other things, it basically introduces the themes of mass culture and technology abuse in dystopian fiction, as well as scientific concepts such as designer drugs, conditioning and cloning. Carl W Spohr's short story The Final War prophesies that the world will be divided between two superpowers, and that the invention of the atomic bomb will entail nuclear deterrence strategies. The story ends with the annihilation of mankind.
1933
The National Socialists seize power in Germany and implement an autocratic and militaristic order, soon to become elaborately totalitarian. The nightmare ends 12 years later in the ruins of Berlin. Fritz Lang's movie Das Testament des Dr Mabuse is banned by the new regime in Germany. Tellingly, it depicts how a criminal organization attempts to seize power with terror methods.
1934
Première of the German propaganda film Triumf des Willens by the controversial filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl. It will influence dystopian nightmare visions of totalitarian systems for many decades to come.
1936
A rebellion by military units in Spain triggers the first armed ideological conflict: the Spanish Civil War. The Fascist side introduces barbarian war methods in Europe, methods which previously hade been reserved for the colonies; the most horrifying novelty is air raids against civilian targets, e.g. in Guernica. More than one million people die, and Fascism triumphs. The war entails a dangerous polarization between Fascism and Communism. The first public trials against alleged traitors are staged in USSR, which marks the beginning of Stalin's terror era. It lasts until the dictator's death in 1953 and costs at least 20 million lives. The first modern use of the term android in Jack Williamsson's The Cometeers.
1938
Orson Welles causes public panic in USA with a realistic radio adaptation of The War of the Worlds, and effectively illustrates the potential of mass media manipulation. The publication of A.G. Street's Already Walks Tomorrow, probably the first elaborate depiction of environmental collapse. John W Campbell's short story Who Goes There?
introduces the stealthy alien concept. It raises little interest, but will later be filmatised as The Thing From Another World in 1951 and The Thing in 1982.
1939
Hitler's Third Reich attacks Poland and triggers the most devastating conflict so far in human history, World War II. More than 40 million people die in five years. Especially the German scientists excel in inventing advanced military technology which will claim many lives in the future, e.g. jet fighters and directed missiles. The publication of Raymond Chandler's first major detective story: The Big Sleep. Chandler's novels, and the filmatisations, will influence dystopian fiction with their potent mixes of lonely detectives, realistic approaches, urban settings, societal critique, harsh dialogue etc.
1941
The première of John Huston's film noir classic The Maltese Falcon, an adaptation of a novel by Dashiell Hammett. Film noir in general and this movie in particular will influence dystopian cinema, especially the art deco aesthetics, the visual settings, the cinematic techniques and the concrete narratives.
1942
The Holocaust is outlined in the infamous Wanzee conference. The first industrial genocide in human history will claim the lives of 6 million Jews. All in all, the terror machinery claims at least 12 million lives, including communists, dissidents, gypsies, homosexuals and disabled. The first nuclear reactor is constructed in USA for military purposes. The full scope of the hazards with civilian nuclear power will not be recognized until much later.
1943
COLOSSUS, the first electronic computation machine is completed in Great Britain. It is in fact more advanced than ENIAC, but it will remain a military secret for decades.
1945
The Manhattan Project is completed, and USA deploys nuclear weapons against human populations for the first time. One bomb in Hiroshima and another in Nagasaki claim at least half a million lives, including the victims of the lingering radiation. Only four years later, USSR detonates its first atom bomb, and the nuclear arms race is a fact. Only a few months after Hitler's death, the first uchronia, i.e. alternative history, concerning a Third Reich victory is published: Laszlo Gaspar's Mi, I. Adolf.
1946
In the Nuremberg Trials, the full scope of the totalitarian horrors in the Third Reich are recognized.
The first truly global peace organization, the United Nations, is founded. USA and USSR immediately begin to manipulate and weaken the organization. The first official electronic computation machine, ENIAC, is completed in USA. The first real computer, EDSAC, is completed only three years later in Great Britain.
1948
The publication of Norbert Wiener's cross-disciplinary work Cybernetics: Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. From a scientific point of view, Man has become Machine. The term cybernetics is, by the way, Wiener's own invention.
1949
After a bloody civil war, the Communists proclaim the People's Republic of China. Exactly how many lives the revolution claims the next two decades will never be certain, but it is probably at least 20 million, hypothetically ten times as many. George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-four, the most elaborately anti-totalitarian dystopia and the politically most influential dystopia of all times, is published. It advances and consolidates the dystopian themes of systematic oppression and mind control. Until the making of Blade Runner, it is basically the sole Dystopia prototype.
1950
Alan Turing defines the so-called Turing Test, the philosophical foundation of artificial intelligence theory. A new science is born, and the following decades many a scientist will claim to have created an intelligent computer.
1952
USA detonates the first hydrogen bomb at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific, thus increasing the scope of nuclear mass destruction dramatically. The heart pacemaker, the first implanted mechanical body enhancement, is introduced. Debatably, this event marks the beginning of the post-human era. The Space Merchants by Fredrick Pohl Cyril Kornbluth, the first elaborate satire over commercialism and consumerism, is published, and introduces concepts such as corporate dominion, corporate overexploitation and corporate wars. The publication of Kurt Vonnegut's Player Piano, debatably the first depiction of a pseudo-utopian society run by a computer. The term dystopia is popularised in Quest For Utopia by Glenn Negley and J. Max Patrick.
1953
Watson and Crick unravels the structure of DNA. From a
scientific point of view, Man has become Computer: the Code has been revealed and the Code can be reprogrammed. The publication of Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, possibly the most intellectually advanced dystopian satire, together with Nineteen Eighty-four. In any case, it certainly contributed to the intellectual integrity of dystopian fiction. Filmatised by François Truffaut in 1966.
1954
A TV play adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-four starring Peter Cushing entails anxious questions in the British parliament.
1955
Première of Don Siegel's Invasion Of The Body Snatchers, an adaptation of a novel by Jack Finney, the first major depiction of a stealthy alien take-over.
1957
USSR launches the first man-made satellite, Sputnik I. The space race is a fact, and it engenders a rapid technological evolution. Among many other things, satellites will enable new means of communication, mass culture, surveillance and warfare. The publication of Nevil Shute's novel On The Beach, made into a movie in 1959 starring e.g. Gregory Peck. It was not the first depiction of nuclear holocaust horrors, but the first one which had a strong emotional impact on the main-stream audience.
1959
The publication of Robert Heinlein's pro-militaristic and anti-democratic novel Starship Troopers, which engenders a heated debate among science fiction writers. Harry Harrison is one of Heinlein's prominent antagonists.
1962
The Cuba crisis almost triggers a nuclear war between USA and USSR. If mankind would have survived a fullscale nuclear conflict is uncertain. Philip K Dick advances the uchronia in The Man In The High Castle, the first uchronian novel to receive the prestigious Hugo award.
1965
In the novel Dune, Frank Herbert basically introduces dystopian themes in space opera.
1966
Make Room, Make Room by Harry Harrison, the first major over-population dystopia, is published; later to be adapted for the silver screen under the title Soylent Green in 1973. D.F. Jones's novel Colossus, adapted for the silver screen in 1969, is probably the first depiction of a global
take-over attempt by military computers. The concept will later be advanced in the Terminator and Matrix movies.
1967
The first heart transplant operation is performed, and human beings suddenly become sets of organic spare parts. The anthology Dangerous Visions, edited by Harlan Ellison, marks the birth of a new science fiction movement: New Wave. It only lasts for a few years, but expands the science fiction concept by breaking many taboos.
1968
Stanley Kubrick's and Arthur C Clark's 2001: A Space Odyssey sets new visual and thematically standards for science fiction in general and science fiction cinema in particular. It advances the artificial intelligence concept and introduces more realistic and conceivable space programs. Philip K Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? advances the android concept and raises disturbing questions about human identity.
1969
USA implements the first Moon landing, the Apollo 11 expedition. A few more manned Moon landings will follow, but the costly Vietnam war will soon put an end to these grand projects. In USA, the first primitive computer network, a nuclear defense application, is constructed. The event will entail a dramatic evolution of computer technology, perhaps most notably the development of the first global computer network, internet. John Brunner advances the over-population theme in Stand on Zanzibar.
1971
The first space station, the Soviet Salyut 1, is constructed and put into operative use. Stanley Kubrick's adaptation of A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess hits the theatres and engenders a furious debate, especially in Great Britain. The movie basically introduces the theme of urban anarchy in dystopian fiction. Robert Wise's The Andromeda Strain, based on a novel by Michael Crichton, popularizes the modern pandemic horror theme. The première of Douglas Trumbull's sadly underestimated Silent Running, the first environmentconscious science fiction movie. David Rorvik popularizes the modern cyborg concept in
As Man Becomes Machine.
1972
John Brunner advances the dystopian theme of environmental collapse in The Sheep Look Up.
1973
In Japan Sinks, Sakyo Komatsu advances the apocalyptic theme in science fiction, especially the social and psychological aspects.
1974
John Carpenter's obscure low-budget comedy Dark Star is probably the first non-romantic and non-heroic movie about space exploration. Screen-writer Dan O'Bannon will later advance the concept dramatically in Alien.
1975
Altair 8800 is the first personal computer to be produced in fairly high quantity. Thus, the personal computer industry is launched, a technological development that will inspire the cyberpunk movement. The same year, John Brunner basically introduces the modern cyberspace concept in The Shockwave Rider.
1976
A new potential plague is recognized: the Ebola hemorrhagic fever. The first outbreak occurs in Sudan, shortly followed by an outbreak in Zaire. Within the next decades, more outbreaks will occur, some of them with a mortality rate of 70-90 %; as a comparison, the mortality rate of the Black Death was 30-75 % K. Eric Drexler popularizes the term nano-technology in his book Engines of Creation.
1977
The publication of Joe Haldeman's brutal anti-war novel The Forever War, debatably the first serious depiction of possible space war horrors; also, it can be seen as a critical comment on Starship Troopers. Together with Alien, it basically de-romanticizes space adventures. The punk album God Save The Queen by Sex Pistols reaches the hit lists and marks the official birth of punk music and punk subculture. This revolution of pop culture will influence the cyberpunk movement.
1979
In Three-Mile Island, USA, the first serious incident at a nuclear power plant occurs. In Iran, a fundamentalist revolution entails the first proclamation of an elaborate theocracy since the proclamation of the Vatican state in 1929. Ridley Scott's famous horror movie Alien hits the box office, and changes the look and feel of space adventures dramatically.
1981
A new disease is recognized in USA, although yet not named: AIDS. Exactly when this lethal virus began to circulate is uncertain, though; it probably occurred for the first time in the late 1960s or early 1970s. George Miller's Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior advances the break-down of civilization in the first movie into Social-Darwinist anarchy, and sets a new standard for post-apocalyptic depictions.
1982
Ridley Scott's Blade Runner sets a whole new standard for science fiction, especially visually, and influences the coming cyberpunk movement immensely. It will engender debates on e.g. hyper-technology and urbanisation for decades to come. As a spin-off effect, it also popularizes Philip K. Dick's works. Steven Lisberger's Tron, immensely underestimated at its time, advances the cyberspace concept.
1984
William Gibson's Neuromancer is published and marks the birth of the influential cyberpunk movement. It also inspires science, engenders debate, revitalizes dystopian fiction, popularizes the cyberspace concept, and consolidates the themes of corporate dominion and hypertechnology in modern science fiction. James Cameron's The Terminator hits the box office and reanimates the old dystopian machine horrors, later to be continued in the Matrix movies. George Orwell's dreaded year passes, and some people claim that Aldous Huxley's nightmare prophecy is more accurate. Première of Michael Radford's ambitious adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-four, starring John Hurt and Richard Burton.
1985
Terry Gilliam's Brazil reboots Kafkaesque themes in dystopian fiction and basically defines the visual standards for tech noir; compare with The City Of Lost Children and Dark City.
1986
In Chernobyl, USSR, the first nuclear power plant catastrophe occurs.
1987
The publication of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale; not the first feminist dystopia, but the first one which gains recognition. It popularizes feminist theory in science fiction and advances the concept of modern theocracies in dystopian fiction. In the novel Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks basically integrates the utopian-dystopian complexity in the space opera genre. Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop modernizes the anti-
capitalistic satire with cyberpunk concepts.
1988
Katsuhiro Omoto's Akira popularises anime and manga outside Japan, cultural expressions which will continue to influence dystopian fiction, albeit mainly on aesthetic levels.
1989
The fall of the Berlin Wall is a fact, and it will soon be followed by the fall of the USSR. It entails a political vacuum and an uncertain future.
1990
The publication of the first dystopian steampunk novel: The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling.
1992
Neal Stephenson reboots and advances the cyberpunk genre in Snow Crash. Robert Harris advances the uchronia in Fatherland, basically the only best-selling uchronia so far.
1993
Graphical user interfaces make internet practically accessible to the public. Possibly, future history books will claim that it entailed social, psychological and perceptual changes.
1997
The première of the first major genetic-engineering dystopia, Andrew Niccol's Gattaca.
1998
Almost 40 years after the publication of Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, Paul Verhoeven's controversial adaptation engenders a new debate.
1999
The Matrix by the Wachowski brothers revitalizes the fading post-cyberpunk current in dystopian fiction.
2001
The largest terrorist attack ever occurs in New York. The terrorists achieve their goals: wide-spread paranoia, nondemocratic tendencies and illegal war campaigns. Possibly, the event will mark the end of Western hegemony in future history books.
2003
The first taikonaut in space. Possibly, the event will mark the beginning of a new space race in future history books. The publication of Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake, a radical renewal of the bio-engineering horror concept.