From Eden to Utopia. A Morphology of the Utopian Genre
We start from the idea that Utopia is a Renaissance alternative to the Medieval Garden of Eden and, consequently, that dystopia, as a failed utopia, continues the theme of Paradise Lost. Inheriting such a rich tradition, the word “utopia” designates a semantic hybrid that encompasses several fields...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | |
| Interlibrary Loan: | Interlibrary Loan for the Fachinformationsdienste (Specialized Information Services in Germany) |
| Published: |
[2016]
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| In: |
Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
Year: 2016, Volume: 15, Issue: 44, Pages: 3-32 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
More, Thomas 1478-1535, Utopia
/ Paradise
/ Utopia
/ Anti-Utopian (Literature)
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| RelBib Classification: | AB Philosophy of religion; criticism of religion; atheism AG Religious life; material religion |
| Further subjects: | B
Mundus
B Eutopia B Dystopia B Literary Genres B Utopia B Antiutopia B Terrestrial Paradise |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Summary: | We start from the idea that Utopia is a Renaissance alternative to the Medieval Garden of Eden and, consequently, that dystopia, as a failed utopia, continues the theme of Paradise Lost. Inheriting such a rich tradition, the word “utopia” designates a semantic hybrid that encompasses several fields and disciplines. In this paper, we propose a reorganisation of the species of the utopian genre by reusing, with a minimum of violence, the already existing, albeit rather lax terms of (o)utopia, eutopia, dystopia and antiutopia (or counterutopia). The main criteria for distinguishing these species are the moral value, the degree of verisimilitude, the constructing procedures (“electrolysis” of the positive and negative elements, utopian extrapolation, proof by contradiction, etc.) |
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| ISSN: | 1583-0039 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Journal for the study of religions and ideologies
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