The View From The Masthead: Journey Through Dystopia Towards an Open-Ended Utopia
Bülent Somay takes ‘Utopia’ as a theme (as well as a specific genre) occurring throughout history under a variety of literary forms and different contents. According to him, Utopia cannot be limited to literature. Utopian fiction is not merely philosophical speculation, nor is it an actual history. It carries the intentions of the former in most cases, but it goes deeper than that: utopian fiction lies at the midpoint of a triangle whose corners are philosophy, politics, and literature. Every utopia is a political proposition, philosophical speculation and literary creation at the same time. In utopian fiction, it is not only the persons or the plot that fictive, but it is also a whole universe. The reality, as we know it, disappears to make room for an alternative possible universe which stands for the actual negation of the existing order of things.
INTRODUCTION The Fantastıc and the Mımetıc
PART I: Journey Through Dystopıa
The Utopian Alternative
Wells Counter Wells
The Shape of Things to Follow
Between Fact and Fiction
The Luddites and the Robots
Before the Grand Inquisitor
Huxley’s Last Men
Where Satire Meets Nightmare
Brave New Novel?
The Passing of Dystopias
Anarres or Urras?
PART II: Towards and Open Ended Utopıa
The Generic Roots of New Utopian Science Fiction
The Utopian Narratives of the 1960’s and 1970’s
From Ambiguity to Self-Reflexivity: Revolutionizing Fantasy Space
The Novel and Political Discourse
“Both” is More Than Two
“Physicist, Heal Thyself!”
Utopia as Fantasy Space
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Utopias, Dystopias and Science Fiction
Secondary Literature and Criticism
Index
Bülent Somay
Lisans eğitimini Boğaziçi Üniversitesi’nde bitirdikten sonra aynı üniversitede İngiliz Edebiyatı üzerine yapmıştır. Montréal McGill Üniversitesi’nde bilim-kurgu üzerine doktora çalışması yürütmüş fakat doktora derecesini almadan Türkiye’ye geri dönmüştür. 1983’ten bu yana çeşitli konularında birçok makalesini yayımlamıştır. Bilim-kurgu serisinin editörlüğünü yaptığı Metis Yayınevi’nden dört kitabı yayımlanmıştır. Somay 2002 yılından beri İstanbul Bilgi Üniversitesi Karşılaştırmalı Edebiyat Bölümü’nde ders vermektedir.