Research Report: "A Study in Dystopian Fiction"

By Brittany Choi, Team 7 Dystopian Novel Project 

Abstract

     In this research paper, Ferris discusses the dystopian genre as a whole. He first defines dystopian literature as not only entertaining but also revealing of humanity’s view of “God, country, humankind, and one’s [its] own self” (1). Ferris then examines five recurring themes in dystopian literature. For each of these themes, Ferris provides historical and current events that relate to it. Ferris also includes and discusses two types of dystopia that characterize many dystopian plots. In his conclusion, Ferris elaborates on the archetypal dystopian novel with its independent main protagonist and pursuit of freedom.

Description

     In this research paper, Ferris first defines dystopian literature, giving a brief history of its origin. Ferris states that although this genre is highly entertaining, its real worth is its ability to reveal more about human nature. Ferris argues that dystopian fiction teaches us about humankind's view of government, religion, humanity as a whole, and of the individual (1). He then discusses the typical outline and characteristics that constitute a dystopian novel. He also writes about the major themes of this genre. He is unable to discuss each theme in major detail, but gives a good bird's eye view point of five recurring themes: the conflict of pluralism versus individualism, chaos versus order, precision of language, war versus peace, humanity (4). 

     Ferris also discusses two types of dystopia: external and internal. An example of external dystopia is 9/11 and the aftermath of government infringements on personal privacy (14-15). External dystopia also includes culture, religion, advertising, and media. Dystopian literature includes each of these in certain capacities.

     Internal dystopia is the control of one's own mind. This is the idea that one's mind can be brainwashed, manipulated, and controlled. Political parties or other ruling powers can use manipulation of people's minds to control the people. The greatest goal is to make people come to a collective agreement that "things are the way they should be" (19). Once this goal is reached, the ruling power obtains all control and authority. The contrast between collectivism and individualism is one of the main battles within internal dystopia. In between these two extremes is interdependence. Interdependence shows how humans must rely on one another and no person or people group is more important than another (23). Tactics such as fear and manipulation of the truth are used to keep people under submission and collectivism. 

     In the conclusion of his paper, Ferris discusses the protagonists of these works of literature. The protagonists first discover that there is more than what they know and that life must be different than it is. They become heroes because they ultimately decide to sacrifice and make hard choices for the sake of the human race. Ferris again provides parallelism of this kind of character to real life situations. People like Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi sacrificed themselves for the hope of a better future for those who followed them. To conclude, Ferris points to the ultimate success of a dystopian hero as freedom. 

     Ferris also includes an appendix of "signs and portents". He connects specific dystopian novels to current events as "possible hints of things to come." It is an interesting case study of parallelism of dystopian literature to our everyday life.

Commentary

     Our project includes two crucial and balancing components: a broad historic and topical overview, and more specific case studies. This research paper contributes to the first. In our project, we are going to be using topic modeling. This paper gives five main themes or topics covered in dystopian literature. Using these five topics we can explore and study these by inputting them into topic modeling tools.However due to Ferris’ use of current examples in his discussion of different topics, this article also shows us how to organize and present case studies as well. This paper even gives a list of novels we can use in our studies.

     While this paper’s broad overview helps in this first component, it also presents limitations on the depth of our research. Due to its brevity, it does not provide a thorough and complete study. We will have to include other research to discover more. Ferris does not discuss the transformation of the dystopian novel directly. We will have to do more research on what contributes to certain patterns in this genre, such as the change from a more futuristic outlook to a different presentation of the present-day.

Resources for Further Study

Debz. "Research - Utopia and Dystopia in Literature and Escapism." Weblog post. Utopia and the Everyday - Art Project Blog. N.p., 17 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Hutchinson, Charlotte. "The Power of Language in Utopia/Dystopia." Academia.edu. Academia.edu, n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Shannon, Samantha. "The Evolution of Dystopian Literature in 9 Books." The Huffington Post. The Huffington Post, 17 Oct. 2013. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

"Teaching Dystopian Fiction to Young Adults." Weblog post. Teaching Dystopian Fiction to Young Adults. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.