Dystopia
Imagined society where life is wretched, dehumanized, and fearful.
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A dystopia is an imagined society where people lead wretched, dehumanized lives, often under totalitarian or environmentally degraded conditions.[1] Thomas More introduced the concept of utopia in 1516, and dystopia is commonly understood as its contrary.[2] Cacotopia and anti-utopia are alternative terms for dystopia.[3]
Key facts and history
John Stuart Mill used "dystopia" as an antonym for utopia in an 1868 Parliamentary speech, denouncing the government's Irish land policy.[4] Jeremy Bentham had proposed "cacotopia" in 1818 to describe the imagined seat of the worst government.[5] Typical themes include complete control through propaganda, censorship, loss of individuality, and enforcement of conformity.[6] Dystopian fiction is distinct from post-apocalyptic fiction.[6]
Lewis Henry Younge's 1747 work Utopia: or Apollo's Golden Days contains the earliest known appearance of the word "dustopia", the original spelling of "dystopia".[4] Fear, oppressive governments, and ecological catastrophe are frequent features of dystopian societies.[7] Existing totalitarian states or societies undergoing severe collapse are sometimes labeled dystopian by certain writers.[8] A notable increase in popular dystopian young adult literature and major motion pictures occurred during the 2010s.[9]
What the cited sources add
The Miami Dade College Learning Resources guide lists specific characteristics of a dystopian society, including propaganda use, constant surveillance, fear of the outside world, and banishment of the natural world.[10]
References
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Definition of DYSTOPIA", www.merriam-webster.com, 2025-03-23 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Definition of dystopia in Oxford Dictionaries (British & World English)", 2013-05-14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rusen, "Thinking Utopia: Steps into Other Worlds", Berghahn Books, 2005 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Younge, "Utopia: Or, Apollo's Golden Days", George Faulkner, 1747; Tisdall, "Postcard from Belgium: the birthplace of utopia", Financial Times, 4 November 2016; Mill, "Public and parliamentary speeches – Part I – November 1850 – November 1868", University of Toronto Press, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, κα^κός", perseus.tufts.edu; Bentham, Jeremy. (1818). Plan of Parliamentary Reform, in the form of a catechism.; Beaumont, "Cacotopianism, the Paris Commune, and England's Anti-Communist Imaginary, 1870-1900", ELH, 2006, p. 465–487 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Dystopias & Utopias: Dystopias", Miami Dade College Learning Resources (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Definition of "dystopia"", Merriam-Webster, 2012; "Definition of "dystopia"", Oxford Dictionaries, 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Read Write Think, "Dystopias: Definition and Characteristics", Read Write Think, 2006 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Dystopia" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Why Do We Love Dystopian Stories So Much? The Cast of Divergent Explains"; "Why are Dystopian Films on the Rise Again?", JSTOR Daily, 19 November 2014; Baker, "From Belfast to Bamako: Cinema in the Era of Capitalist Realism", Ireland and Cinema, 1 January 2015, p. 107–116; Shaviro, "Post Cinematic Affect", John Hunt Publishing, 2010; Allen, "Marx and the Alternative to Capitalism", Lulu Press, Inc., November 2023; Hassler-Forest, "Capitalist Superheroes: Caped Crusaders in the Neoliberal Age", John Hunt Publishing, 2012; Fisher, "Capitalist r en.wikipedia.org
- "Dystopias & Utopias: Dystopias", Miami Dade College Learning Resources. facts only, no text reused. libraryguides.mdc.edu
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Dystopia (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Dystopia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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