Perfect Worlds : Utopian Fiction in China and the West

Perfect Worlds offers an extensive historical analysis of utopian narratives in the Chinese and Euro-American traditions. This comparative study discusses finally the rise of dystopian writing – a negative expression of the utopian impulse – in Europe and America (Zamyatin, Huxley, Orwell, Bradbury, Atwood) as well as in China (Lao She, Wang Shuo, and others). The author observes that the utopian imagination thrives in a context of secularization. It appears that in the twentieth century the distinction between utopia and dystopia is blurred as a result of the increasing autonomy of the reader. Fokkema argues that in modern times utopianism in China and in the West has developed in opposite directions, each appropriating attitudes from the other culture which originally were considered alien. Perfect Worlds offers an extensive historical analysis of utopian narratives in the Chinese and Euro-American traditions. This comparative study discusses finally the rise of dystopian writing {u2013} a negative expression of the utopian impulse {u2013} in Europe and America (Zamyatin, Huxley, Orwell, Bradbury, Atwood) as well as in China (Lao She, Wang Shuo, and others).The author observes that the utopian imagination thrives in a context of secularization. It appears that in the twentieth century the distinction between utopia and dystopia is blurred as a result of the increasing autonomy of the reader. Fokkema argues that in modern times utopianism in China and in the West has developed in opposite directions, each appropriating attitudes from the other culture which originally were considered alien. Perfect Worlds biedt een uitgebreide historische analyse van utopische verhalen in de Chinese en Euro-Amerikaanse traditie. Verschillende hoofdstukken gaan onder meer in op de kritiek van Thomas More op Plato, de Europese oriëntalistische speurtocht naar utopieën in China, Dostoevsky{u2019}s reactie op Chernyshevsky{u2019}s What Is to Be Done, Wells{u2019}s Modern Utopia en zijn interview met Stalin, Chinese schrijvers die hun Confucianistische utopie construeren, en sporen van het Daoisme in het gedachtengoed van Mao Zedong en zijn politiek van de Grote Sprong Voorwaarts en de Culturele Revolutie. Deze vergelijkende studie bespreekt tenslotte de opkomst van dystopische fictie {u2013} een negatieve representatie van de utopische impuls {u2013} in Europa en Amerika (Zamyatin, Huxley, Orwell, Bradbury, Atwood) alsook in China (Lao She, Wang Shuo en anderen).De auteur constateert dat de utopische verbeelding tot bloei komt in een context van secularisering. In de twintigste eeuw heeft de toenemende autonomie van de lezer tot gevolg dat het onderscheid tussen eutopie en dystopie vervaagt. Tenslotte betoogt Fokkema dat in de moderne tijd de utopie in China en in het Westen een tegengestelde ontwikkeling heeft doorgemaakt, waarbij elk van de twee culturen zich elementen van de andere cultuur heeft eigen gemaakt die oorspronkelijk als vreemd werden beschouwd __Perfect Worlds__ is an extensive, comparative study of utopian narratives in both the East and the West. Douwe Fokkema provides an elegant argument about the human impulse to imagine new and better worlds, astutely observing that the utopian imagination thrives in the context of secularization. Fokkema also tracks the rise of dystopian narratives, invoking authors as diverse as Margaret Atwood and Lao She, and provides a cogent evaluation of the role of imagined worlds in both Chinese and Euro-American fiction. A shrewd comparison of cultures, as well as a vivid account of cross-cultural influence, this volume is a welcome addition to the scholarly discourse on utopias. Perfect Worlds Offers An Extensive Historical Analysis Of Utopian Narratives In The Chinese And Euro-american Traditions. This Comparative Study Discusses, Among Other Things, More's Criticism Of Plato, The European Orientalist Search For Utopia In China, Wells's Modern Utopia And His Talk With Stalin, Chinese Writers Constructing Their Confucianist Utopia, Traces Of Daoism In Mao Zedong's Utopianism And Politics And Finally The Rise Of Dystopian Writing--a Negative Expression Of The Utopian Impulse--in Europe And America As Well As In China.--page 4 Of Cover. Douwe Fokkema. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes. "Perfect Worlds offers an extensive historical analysis of utopian narratives in the Chinese and Euro-American traditions. This comparative study discusses, among other things, More's criticism of Plato, the European orientalist search for utopia in China, Wells's Modern Utopia and his talk with Stalin, Chinese writers constructing their Confucianist utopia, traces of Daoism in Mao Zedong's utopianism and politics and finally the rise of dystopian writing - a negative expression of the utopian impulse - in Europe and America as well as in China"--Page 4 of cover 9789089643506_cover_HR_crop......Page 1 9789089643506_text_HR......Page 2