Nature/Goals of the Course
Shapes of Utopia examines relationships between concepts of imaginary better worlds and forms of expression. Students should increase their knowledge of utopian expression, of how form shapes content, and of how readers shape form and content. "Very Selected Exploratory Investigations" would be an appropriate subtitle for the course. I make no pretense of offering an overview of utopian literature. Our study of utopian literature is limited (1) by the focus of the course (i.e., I selected texts that represented various forms of utopian expression rather than texts considered "representative" of their era, though many of the ones I selected are that too); and (2) by my interest in American utopianism. We study British, Continental, Middle Eastern, and Classical texts, but approximately half of the texts are American; and (unless you count my comments about Tokyo's Disney Land) no Asian and no African or South American texts. On the other hand, we will go beyond what is traditionally called utopian "literature" in our attempts to understand relationships between form and content (e.g., our discussions of Plains Indian visions, the Declaration of Independence, Frederick Douglass's autobiography, Disney World, pageants, TV ads, comic strips), though we do not venture far into discussions of utopian communities. (Nevertheless, I hope we will visit such a community during the semester.)
To some degree, the organization of the course is chronological. When, however, I had to make choices about placing specific works, genre took precedence over chronology. Hence, More's _Utopia_ appears in the latter part of the semester.
The time we spend on each text will vary greatly. In the beginning of the semester, I will introduce many different forms of utopian expression. Most of the readings are very short, and we may cover several texts in one class. Later, when we shift to book-length works, we will average one or two class meetings per book. Becasue of its length and complexity, we will devote several classes to the last book, _Always Coming Home_.
Working Definitions (Utopian Literature, Communities, Thought)
Although this course does not focus exclusively on utopian "literature," we will, after the first five weeks, spend most of the semester examining texts that are often described as utopian literature or literary utopias. Therefore a working definition should be a useful touchstone for many of our discussions. I have decided to define utopian literature within the contexts of working definitions of utopian communities and utopian thought, since they are often lumped together in confusing ways with comments about utopian literature. (My decision to use these three categories was influenced by Lyman Tower Sargent's "Three Faces of Utopianism Revisited" (see the short readings packet).
_Utopian literature_: A literary utopia is a fairly detailed, narrative descrip-tion of an imaginary community, society, or world that invites readers to experience vicariously a culture that represents radical, though identifi-able, alternatives (both iconoclastic and normative) to the readers' culture.
If the imaginary world is much better than the reader's world, then the text is usually called "utopian" or "eutopian" (e.g., More's _Utopia_, Bellamy's _Looking Backward_). "Dystopia" is commonly used as a term describing the depiction of much worse worlds (e.g., Huxley's _Brave New World_, Orwell's _Nineteen Eighty-four_.) Obviously, there are many works that combine both eutopian and dystopian elements (e.g., Twain's _Connecticut Yankee_.). Furthermore, even the cheeriest of eutopias often contains dystopian warnings, and the bleakest of dystopias sometimes implies eutopian possibilities. Designating a eutopia or dystopia is, thus, clearly a matter of relative emphasis rather than absolute classification. (In this course the emphasis will be on eutopian literature.)
The authors of both eutopias and dystopias often hope to alter their reader's perceptions of and feelings about the origins, realities, and potentialities of the present. In many, though certainly not all, cases, authors hope that the altered perceptions and feelings will move readers to actions that will make the real world more closely resemble their imaginary better worlds. From the reader's viewpoint, engagement with a utopian text offers opportunities for self-evaluation (values, ideals, etc.), as well as evaluation of the origins, realities, and potentialities of his or her present culture. Depending on a complex matrix of personal, reading, and cultural contexts, the reading of a utopia can reinforce, undermine, and/or liberate readers' perceptions of themselves and their worlds, and even motivate them to change their private perceptions and personal lives or to act out their interpretations of the utopia in a social arena.
One final note: Modern readers, especially those conditioned by formalist literary criteria often applied to short stories and novels (e.g., irony, ambiguity, subtle characterization, emotional restraint, verbal density, rich and realistic descriptions, and a tendency to avoid authorial intrusions and didactic preaching and propagandizing), frequently encounter difficulties if they expect a literary utopia to be a "good novel." Better models for understanding the assumptions and expectations of many of the pre-20th century authors and readers of literary utopias are fictional works such as Stowe's _Uncle Tom's Cabin_, or Biblical parables, Platonic dialogues, sermons, travel narratives, science fiction, and psychological and philosophical thought experiments (e.g., What if? and What ought to be?). Utopian literature is very much of a hybrid form of discourse that borrows from many different oral and written fictional and non-fictional traditions. The most comprehensive bibliography of utopian literature in English is Lyman Tower Sargent's _British and American Utopian Lit., 1516-1985_. Glenn Negley's _Utopian Literature: A Bibliography_ . . . . is an excellent listing of utopias in many languages. The best collections in America are at Duke (where Negley taught) and Penn State. (Arthur O. Lewis has compiled an annotated bibliography of the Penn State collection.) _Utopian communities_ (often called intentional communities) form when groups act out their utopian ideals by creating a living environment that, from their viewpoint, represents or points toward a much better way of life than is practiced outside the community. These communities may boast hundreds of members or be as small as urban co-op living experiments. Some are dominated by charismatic and/or wealthy individuals; several of the most long-lived have been religious. There are, however, many examples of communities that lack these qualities. A good source of information on American intentional communities is R. Fogarty's _Dictionary of American and Communal Utopian History_. Overlaps between literary utopias and communes occur when the former inspires the latter (e.g., the several communities inspired by Skinner's _Walden Two_) or the latter inspires the former (e.g., Brook Farm was the touchstone for Hawthorne's _Blithedale_).
_Utopian thought_ can be expressed in sacred texts, in manifestos, treatises, histories, songs, etc. Its authors' aims and the effects upon the readers or listeners are often similar to the aims and effects of literary utopias, though the lack of narrative, characters, and detailed descriptions of many aspects of the imaginary better culture tend to make the experience of reading a utopian treatise or declaration less of a particular vicarious (lived) experience and more of a general intellectual or emotional experience. (Depending on each reader's background and attitudes, this "rule" will have many exceptions.) Overlaps occur in many ways: Sacred texts, such as the Bible, and declarations, such as the Declaration of Independence, have been used as sources of images, values, rhetoric, and authority by many American authors of literary utopias and founders of intentional communities, and readers often use their knowledge of these texts and declarations to give meaning to the utopian narratives. Furthermore, some texts, such as Plato's _Republic_, Brown's _Alcuin_, and Bellamy's _Equality_, have so little narrative and character development, that the line between literary utopia and utopian treatise becomes very slim. *********
Since 1975, _Utopus Discovered_, the newsletter of the Society for Utopian Studies, has provided current bibliographies. Since 1990, the Society's journal, _Utopian Studies_, has offered articles, bibliographies, and reviews. There is an annual conference. Information about student rates can be obtained from Lyman Tower Sargent, Political Science, U of Missouri-St. Louis, 80001 Natural Bridge Rd., St. Louis, MO 63121-4499.
Required Readings (in the order in which we read them)
A collection of short, reserved readings prepared for this course. In the list of reading assignments this collection is designated (SR); we will use this collection throughout the semester.
Selections from _Utopian Literature_ (ed. Johnson). Designated (UL)
Shakespeare, _The Tempest_
Bellamy, _Looking Backward_
Gilman, _Herland_
Skinner, _Walden Two_
Twain, _Connecticut Yankee_
More, _Utopia_
Piercy, _Woman on the Edge of Time_
Le Guin, _Always Coming Home_
Tentative Schedule, Topics, Readings
Introduction to the Course 9/1
Readings: Roemer and Sargent (SR)
Utopia in Sacred Myth and Vision 9/1, 8
Readings: Epic of Gilgamesh (SR), Genesis (UL), Exodus (SR) Isaiah (UL), Matthew (UL), John's Revelations (UL), St. Augustine (UL), Black Elk's Great Vision (SR), Ghost Dance Visions (SR),
Dialoging Utopia 9/15
Reading: Plato (UL)
Historical and Public Discourses 9/15
Readings: Plutarch (UL); and in SR: Columbus, Smith, Winthrop, Mather, Jefferson, Black Petitions
Utopian Poetics 9/22
Readings: In UL: Dante, Marvel, Milton, Frost
Satiric Utopias 9/22
Readings: In UL: Swift, Johnson
Utopias in Personal "Essays" (incl. fiction) 9/29
Readings: In SR: Franlkin, Crevecoeur, Douglass, In UL: Melville, Thoreau
Dramatic Utopias
Readings: Shaw (UL) 10/6
First Examination 10/13
Reader-Response Paper Due 10/20
Utopian Fictions: Unambiguous
19th Century: _Looking Backward_ 10/20 _Herland_ 10/27
20th Century: _Walden Two_ 11/3 World's Fairs, Disney, Ads, Pageants, Comics (Louis Marin in SR) 11/10
Utopian Fictions: Ambivalent
_Connecticut Yankee_ 11/10
Utopian Fictions: Ambiguous
16th Century: _Utopia_ 11/17 20th Century: Wells, Lessing, Le Guin (SR) 11/17 _Woman_, "Novelists" (SR) 11/17
Short Research Paper Due 12/1
Thanksgiving Holiday 11/24
November or December visit to White Hawk Community
Multi-genre-voice-vision Utopia
_Always Coming Home_ 12/1. 8
Final Exam 12/15 ***********
Examinations
The two examinations will each consist of a multi-part essay question. relating to the texts and issues we have discussed. The class before the exam, I will give you a study question that will define the focus of the exam question. You will be allowed to bring books, notes, outlines, etc. for the essay question. Grading criteria: thoughtful arguments consistently related to the questions and supported with appropriate examples from the readings.
The Reader-Response Paper (Due 10/20)
Select one of the readings to which you responded either very positively or very negatively or with a combination of strong positive and negative responses. Begin the writing process by noting down each time you have a strong positive or negative reaction to a section of the text and jotting next to the note a possible explanation for the response (e.g., immediate circumstance while reading, past courses, past reading experiences or tastes, memories of people or experiences that remind you of the characters or episodes, general political, religious, economic attitudes, etc.) When you have finished reading and note-taking, look for patterns in your notes: Do you focus on any particular parts of the text? Are there types of memories, tastes, attitudes that influenced you repeatedly. (A possible descriptive term for these influences is transformational association.) Narrow the types of influences down to the most important influences that shaped your responses. In the paper, these patterns will correspond to the major sections of the paper. In each section (in whatever order you deem appropriate), define the nature of the influence and how that influence shaped your response (positive, negative, etc.) to particular parts of the text. Discuss the most important influence in the last section of "body" of the paper. In the introduction, give some indication of the type of reader you are, especially what may have shaped your attitudes toward reading. In the conclusion, indicate what you may have learned from this reading and writing experience. Grading criteria: I certainly will not be "grading" the types of influences you decide to discuss. You are the experts on those matters. I will be especially concerned about how clearly you define the influences and their relationships to your responses to the text. This may be a bit more difficult than you expect. Your "personal" influences and responses may be perfectly understandable to you, but to a reader outside your "person," they may seem vague and unimportant. Interesting and appropriate illustrations from your background and the text should help to clarify your arguments. Because the nature of the influences will vary, the lengths of the papers will no doubt vary. They may be from five e to ten double-spaced, typed pages.
The Short "Research" Paper (Due 12/1)
Select a different text for this paper. Discuss how the form (i.e., genre, conventions, reader expectations) of that text relates to the nature of the utopianism expressed. I will not expect you to have done "exhaustive" research on the text. I will, however, expect you to be able to support your claims with relevant ideas from some scholarship about the text that relates directly to the issue of form; (e.g., if you select Shaw, I would expect you to be able to support your claims with relevant comments about drama, especially the type of drama Shaw wrote; if you select Black Elk's vision, I would expect you to draw upon relevant concepts about Plains Indian visionary experience; if you select Piercy's Woman on the Edge of Time, comments about the nature of feminist science fiction would help). For some students, theoretical essays and sections of books about the genre of utopian literature by Mannheim, Fry, Elliott (from whom I borrowed the title of this course), Suvin, Morson, Jameson, Marin, Levitas, and others may be useful. Even though this is a short paper (8-12 double-spaced, typed pages), it will be very important for you to contact me about your topic early (certainly before mid-semester, October 18) so that I can help you. This may mean that you will have to read ahead of the schedule if you think you'd like to work with one of texts we discuss after October 18. (Please use the MLA style for citation and bibliography. )
Approximate "Weights" for Semester Grade, Etc.
First Exam 15%
Reader-Response Paper 25%
Short Research Paper 35%
Final Exam 25%
Please consult with me if you have any questions about grades.
Note: Under normal circumstances, I do not accept late papers. Dystopian Notices: University policy requires that cases of academic dishonesty (e.g., plagiarism) will be handled according to University procedures which can include suspension and expulsion. (See the Graduate School's thesis and dissertation manual for a good definition of plagiarism.) Also, professors can no longer give Ws to students who have excessive absences but have not dropped. If they have not completed their work, these students will receive Fs. Therefore, if you plan to drop, please observe the graduate deadline and follow University procedures for withdrawal.
Eutopian Note: Consistent class participation and improvement can raise the semester grade.
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