21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

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Dystopian Literature

Dystopian Literature
Dystopia and Utopia
Dystopia is said to be the opposite of utopia.
Utopia is defined by the dictionary as “an imagined place or state of things in
which everything is perfect.” Merriam Webster defined this word as “an
imaginary and indefinitely remote place or a place of ideal perfection in laws,
government and social conditions.” This word was first used in Thomas
More’s “Utopia” (1516). In this book, he discussed his travels and tales of a
fictional island society in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Utopian society in More’s book is made idyllic by the following:
First, they do not pardon violence and wars. As much as possible, they try to
avoid both. They believe that there’s no point in killing other people unless it
is to save the oppressed and their fellow Utopians. Why? They believe in the
power of intelligence of humans. It is true that one may achieve victory
through cunningness. Like our very own Jose Rizal. He may not have fought
in the battle physically, but he was the one who opened the eyes of the
people through writing. With a rational thought and valued intelligence like
the Utopians, the people today may not even have to resort to wars to
achieve greatness or to prove their power.
Second, they have respect for other religions. They have one church for
everyone but the priests provide similarities among all the religions present
but if your religion has slightly different rituals, you have to perform that
ritual at home, as respect. This is a lot like the society today. Humans vary in
faith and belief. It’s one reason for war. But through learning to accept
others’ belief in a Higher power, it may lead to some sort of peace and
understanding among them.
Third is the value they hold for life. Utopians believe that the soul is immortal
and that there is an existence of an afterlife. They believe in slavery and
justice. These slaves can never be bought. They are chained. But their
children are allowed to live among Utopians. The Utopians who have caught
terminal sicknesses are given the choice to either live, and continue fighting
or die, and end the torture. If they choose to die, it will be peacefully done so
in their sleep. If they choose to live, the gentle and kind treatment for them
will continue. They value the only life given to them. They try as hard as they
can to preserve it.
Dystopia, on the other hand, is characterized as imperfect and where things
go terribly wrong. Dystopian literature gives a “nightmarish image” of the
possible future. Most of the prevailing themes in this type of literature
involve rebellion, oppression, revolutions, wars, overpopulation and

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 disasters. ReadWriteThink defined dystopia as “a futuristic imagined
universe in which oppressive societal control and the illusion of a perfect
society are maintained through corporate, bureaucratic, technological, moral
or totalitarian control. Dystopias, through an exaggerated worst-case
scenario, make a criticism about a current trend, societal norm or political
system.”
While dystopia and utopia are antonyms of each other, they both contain
similar elements such as intense measures of social control but dystopia
takes this to horrible extremes, dwelling more on the negatives.
In the present time, this type of literature reigns among young adults.

Characteristics and Functions of Dystopian Literature

The following are the prominent characteristics of dystopian literature:
 Propaganda is used to control the citizens of society.
 Information, independent thought and freedom are restricted.
 A figurehead or concept is worshipped by the citizens of the society
 Citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance.
 Citizens have a fear of the outside world.
 Citizens live in a dehumanized state
 The natural world is banished and distrusted.
 Citizens conform to uniform expectations. Individuality and dissent
are bad.
 The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world.
Dystopian literature gives the readers an idea of the worries that the
author/s hold for humanity and the world. This became the technique of
writers to channel their opinions on issues affecting the future. The role of
dystopian literature is to make the audience/readers aware of what might
happen with the way things are going at present. This type of literature is
popular among young adults and teenagers because of its hopeful outlook
despite the despairing state of the society. This gives teenagers the image of
breaking free from the control of authority, especially the importance of
fighting against oppression.

Elements of Dystopian Literature

Protagonist
There are different types of protagonists that appear in a dystopian world.
They are the following:
 The protagonist who notices something significantly wrong with the
society he/she is living in and makes it his/her goal to change things
around him/her. This protagonist’s view of the world often differs
from the majority leading to dispute.
 The protagonist is the prominent hero who discovers the worst side
of society and attempts to change or destroy it.
The protagonist also has the following qualities:
 often feels trapped and is struggling to escape.
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Dystopian Literature

 questions the existing social and political systems.

 believes or feels that something is terribly wrong with the society in
which he or she lives.
 helps the audience recognizes the negative aspects of the dystopian
world through his or her perspective

Backstory
The fictional world of dystopian literature must showcase the story of how
their society or world came to be from the current state of the world. The
backstory explains how the society deteriorated, what caused the society to
be ruined, who was the instigator of the dystopian world.

Conflict
The conflict stems from the leader of the dystopian world and how the hero
perceives him/her/it as something that is causing the wrecking of society.
The hero then meets a group of characters who also have the same
perspective and together, they would journey on through the consequences
of fighting against the ruling power.

Climax
The hero may or may not solve the issues of the society. He or she may or
may not fail and the dystopia will continue on despite everything that
happened. But the climax builds in the story when the hero bravely takes a
stand against the oppression.

Types of Dystopian Controls

The worlds depicted in dystopian literature maintains their oppressive
societal control and illusion of a perfect society through the following types
of controls (ReadWriteThink, 2006):
 Corporate control – wherein one or more large corporations control
society through products, advertising and/or media.
 Bureaucratic control – wherein a mindless bureaucracy controls the
society through a tangle of red tape, relentless regulations and
incompetent government officials.
 Technological control – wherein technology controls the society
through the use of computers, robots, and/or any scientific means.
 Philosophical/religious control – wherein a philosophical or religious
ideology controls the society and enforced through a dictatorship or
theocratic government.

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References
What is Dystopia? Retrieved from:
http://libraryschool.libguidescms.com/content.php?pid=325261&sid
=2662135
Dystopia. Retrieved from: https://literarydevices.net/dystopia/