Utopia: Some Definitions

Utopia: Thomas More first used the term, deriving it from Greek (outopia—ou = no, not; topos = place) but also from eutopia (eu = good) (Sargent 2). It came to denote the literary genre in which a detailed account of an imaginary, ideal, and non-existent society is presented as if existing in real time and space and constructed by human beings. “Utopia” or “utopian” is also used to describe excerpts of such visions from longer works even though the longer work might not be utopian in the strict sense. As such, utopian literature in English begins with More’s Utopia, but important precedents for More were Plato’s (429-347 B.C.E.) Republic and Laws.

However, numerous visions of an ideal world in which desire is fulfilled existed before More, even though many of them are depicted as created by gods rather than humans.

These include apocalyptic narratives, a golden age, earthly paradises, fortunate isles, isles of the blest, Elysium, eternal cities, idyllic, pastoral visions of Arcadia, and voyages or travels that report discoveries of  utopian societies. They often have common features: a reward for virtue, simplicity, security, equality and liberty, immortality, natural abundance, little or no labour, unity with gods, nature, and the human race, and sensual gratification are among them (see Sargent 13-18).

Utopias are “intentional communities (but not all “intentional communities” are utopias). “Intentional communities” are groups of people who live together according to shared values or ideologies, often in opposition to normative Western social and political organizations (Sargent 6-7).

Utopian satire: a utopia in which the author intends his/her readers to see a depiction of a good/ideal society as a criticism of his/her own society (Claeys 2)

Anti-utopia: a utopia that the author intends his/her readers to see as a criticism of a utopia or utopianism (Claeys 2).

Critical utopia: a utopia that the author intends his/her readers to see as better than contemporary society but with shortcomings that aren’t resolved, rejecting utopia as a perfect world. Often the suggestion is that utopia is a dynamic process that is continued by debate and flexible adaptation rather than a static condition that is achieved once and for all (Claeys 2).

Dystopia: a vision of society that the author intends the reader to see as worse than contemporary society even though based on an extrapolation from contemporary society. Often dystopias begin as utopias, so they are often critical of some aspects of utopia and utopianism (Claeys 2).

Based on G. Claeys and L. M. Sargent, eds. The Utopian Reader. New York: New York UP, 1999. 1-4; and L. M. Sargent, Utopianism. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2010. 2-19.