Edited by
J. C. Davis
Miguel Angel Ramiro Avilés
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 208
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781849666848
Within literature, history, politics, philosophy and theology, the interpretation of utopian ideals has evolved constantly. Juxtaposing historical views on utopian diagnoses, prescriptions and on the character and value of utopian thought with more modern interpretations, this volume explores how our ideal utopia has transformed over time.
Challenging long-held interpretations, the contributors turn a fresh eye to canonical texts, and open them up to a twenty-first century audience. From More's Utopia to Le Guin's The Dispossessed, Utopian Moments puts forward a lively and accessible debate on the nature and significance of utopian thought and tradition.
Each essay focuses on a key passage from the selected work using it to encourage both the specialist and the reader new to the field to read afresh. Written by an international team of leading scholars, the essays range from the sixteenth century to the present day and are designed to be both stimulating and accessible.
Challenging long-held interpretations, the contributors turn a fresh eye to canonical texts, and open them up to a twenty-first century audience. From More's Utopia to Le Guin's The Dispossessed, Utopian Moments puts forward a lively and accessible debate on the nature and significance of utopian thought and tradition.
Each essay focuses on a key passage from the selected work using it to encourage both the specialist and the reader new to the field to read afresh. Written by an international team of leading scholars, the essays range from the sixteenth century to the present day and are designed to be both stimulating and accessible.
Table of Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Systemic Remedies for Systemic Ills
- More's Utopia
- Goodbye to Utopia
- So Close, So Far
- Microcosm, Macrocosm and ‘Practical Science’ in Andreae's Christianopolis
- Tommaso Campanella, The City of the Sun and the Protective Celestial Bodies
- ‘A Dark Light’
- Gerrard Winstanley's The Law Of Freedom
- ‘ De Te Fabula Narratur ’
- An Island with Potential
- The Persian Moment in Denis Veiras's History of the Sevarambians
- Nature and Utopia in Morelly's Code De La Nature
- Sinapia , A Political Journey to the Antipodes of Spain
- Condorcet's Utopianism
- Women's Rights and Women's Liberation in Charles Fourier's Early Writings
- A Tale of Two Cities
- How to Change the World
- The Utopian Organization of Work in Icaria
- The Horror of Strangeness
- ‘The Incompatibility I Could Not Resolve’
- Utopian Journeying
- Conclusion
- Suggestions for Further Reading
