Gary Shteyngart was born in the USSR in 1972 and moved to the U.S. when he was seven years old. Like many of the authors we've read during this quarter, Shteyngart had a complex relationship to his immigrant status--always feeling both Russian and American. Most of his work focuses on these feelings of alienation and otherness.
Shteyngart has published three acclaimed novels--The Russian Debutante's Handbook, Absurdistan, and A Super Sad True Love Story. All three novels share a dark, satirical edge, an interest in international intrigue, and a commitment to absurd fictional conceits and complicated plot devices.
Shteyngart’s latest novel has been called a dystopia. Look up this concept and describe 1-2 other dystopian texts you’ve experienced (books,movies, comics, etc.). How is the novel a dystopian one?
Dystopian texts can be described as depicting a very futuristic society. Often times the society is repressed and under complete control by something, often times the government. The actual dictionary definitions are 1) a society characterized by human misery, squalor and disease. 2) an imaginary place where everything is as bad as it can be.(dictionary.com). I would definitely describe Super Sad True Love Story as having a dystopian community. The government has a great deal of control and influence on a very high level. Everything is very capital driven in Lenny’s community, and very shamelessly so. The idea of dystopia is often a ominous prediction of what society will become . Shteyngart may not be that far off in depicting a world that communicates only through technology, as of now just about everyone has a cell phone, computer access, mp3 players, and social networks. That is just the tip of the iceberg; with this technology everyone becomes traceable, less personal so Shteyngart’s idea of the future may not be so radical. As I began thinking of dystopian texts I immediately thought of The Giver. I have not read it since the 8th grade, but in this community you were placed in your job at a certain age. The number of children you could have was regulated; everything was planned out for you without any room for personal growth .This novel seemed much less realistic as I was reading it because it has a much larger element of fantasy. Secondly I reflected on Fahrenheit 451, this novel is little more in line with Shteyngarts idea of societies future. The focus on literature becoming extinct makes you think about society’s dependency on technology. Fahrenheit 451 was published in 1953 and it was already a concern at that time. I think the common thread is the authors, people who value literature with such high esteem naturally can see a trend away from average society valuing literature and things of such nature.
ReplyDeleteThe first couple things that sprung to mind when thinking about a dystopia weren't books, but films (well, one was a film, the other a couple, and an anime series).
ReplyDeleteThe first was Idiocracy. It's a movie about an average guy (by the US Army's standards, the most average guy) who was frozen as a part of a research program, and ended up waking 500 years later, when the world (or at least America) has devolved to the point where he is the smartest person alive, by a long shot. Everything is basically run by automated systems that were put in place before people got stupid, trash is piling up everywhere, and people spend their days watching television shows called "Ow my Balls!" and watching hit films like "Ass", which is 90 minutes of a man's bare ass on screen.
The US has an agricultural crisis because all of the crops in the country are being fed "Brawndo" an energy drink corporation that has taken over the FDA, and claims that their Energy drink is what plants crave (It's got Electrolytes!).
The other example is an Anime film/series called "Ghost in the Shell." It takes place in a future where just about everyone has replaced their entire (or at least a portion) of their body with mechanical parts, not unlike Shteyngart's "Indefinite Life Extension." The world they live in is one dominated by political corruption and corporate involvement. A major theme involved throughout all of the films/series is that of humanity, and what exactly constitutes humanity in a world that's essentially become entirely mechanical.
Both of these share a lot of similarities with A Super Sad True Love Story. The de-evolution of humanity is present in the public's distaste for literature, and shallow behavior. The political happenings in the world, and how the people have very little say in what's going on, other than to criticize it, or revolt against it, is also very similar in them.
A dystopia describes a fictionalized society that usually occurs in the future. Just looking at the word itself, it is obviously related to “utopia”, but unlike the idealized perfection of a utopia, the “dys” in dystopia has a negative connotation (dysentery, dyslexia, dyspepsia, etc.). Dystopian texts often feature a future that has been corrupted and completely repressed by a militaristic, technologically advanced state. They are generally a warning for the audience to change our ways now so that we don’t have to suffer later.
ReplyDelete“Super Sad True Love Story” seems to be a textbook example of dystopian fiction. America has been reduced to a repressive, capitalist, technological state where human communication only exists through the high-tech äppärät. Shteyngart has removed the humanity and the individual from society; even the place Lenny works is “Post-Human Services”. As ridiculous as a lot of the novel seems to be, it’s slightly terrifying how easily it could actually happen.
An example of a dystopia that I immediately thought of was the film “Children of Men”. This movie is about a future that basically has no future: everyone has been rendered infertile. There have been no babies born for almost twenty years. Besides the imminent extinction of humans, they have also wasted away much of the environment and society in general. As a result, society has fallen into much chaos and England is left with the only semi-organized government. There is hope, but the fearful and grim tone of the film definitely acts as a warning for the audience.
Another example that I thought of was “WALL-E”. While it is a Disney movie, it still has many of the characteristics of a dystopia. Earth’s environment has been completely ravaged by human waste. People have been living in space where every single opinion and daily task is controlled by robots. It even features the über powerful mega-corporation (Buy n Large) that runs everyone’s lives. It’s kind of a dystopia-light: a cautionary tale but with a lovable robot and a child-friendly ending.
Dystopian literature is often futuristic in the ways society operates in which everything is controlled and in a state of repression. It is important to note that often times these societies are mistaken for utopians by most of the individuals living within that society. Oftentimes dystopian texts are used as warnings to their readers that the fictive dystopia may be a consequence of reality should society continue on the way it currently exists. From this definition alone, it is easy to see the connections between a dystopian society and the one Shteyngart creates in his novel, Super Sad True Love Story. While it is not futuristic in the sense that it is telling the future as it will happen hundreds of years from now, it is futuristic in that technology IS life even more so than it already is. Everything in their society operates through and around technology, which also connects with the repression and control found in dystopian societies. In SSTL, the devices individuals use (äppäräti) are the dominant mode of communication as well as a mode of omniscient surveillance and control from the government/military. Shteyngart’s novel is only exaggerating modern society in which our smart phones are permanently glued to our hands, and texting and Facebook are the dominant forms of communication. In a way, Shteyngart is preparing us (while simultaneously warning us) for the future – a future that consists of a loss of identity, loss of the individual, constant fear, and complete absurdity. He communicates this message through the pathetic and grotesque characters of Lenny and Eunice, two characters that want so desperately to fit in to this absurd culture but who are also always the outsiders and the losers. This is mostly due to their attachment to “traditional” quirks, such as Lenny’s love of reading actual books.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly to Shtyengart’s novel, there have been countless dystopian texts that have come before it. One of the first films that came to mind was V for Vendetta (2006), which was an adaptation of a graphic novel series donning the same name. It is set in a London in a near-future dystopian society ruled by a totalitarian government under a fascist party. The government monitors and controls everything (including what is broadcast on television), instilling fear amongst the citizens that live there as seen in Shteyngart’s text. The main character, Evey (as portrayed by Natalie Portman), is rescued from a Guy Fawkes-masked vigilante who calls himself “V”; he is a bold, charismatic freedom fighter driven to exact revenge on those who disfigured him while attempting to ignite a revolution among the people by hacking into the television programs and inserting his own speeches, blowing up iconic British government buildings, etc. The end result is V’s death but a death followed by a civil rebellion in which the military stands down to thousands of civilians donning the Guy Fawkes mask and Parliament is ultimately destroyed. This would suggest the end of the dystopian society, but these are the pieces we, the audience, have to piece together ourselves.
(cont.)
ReplyDeleteAn even earlier work that I also thought of was Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale (1990). I read this book in high school, and I remember reacting much the same way that I react to SSTL – completely terrified of society’s possibilities. Fear aside, this is a great novel. Similar to V for Vendetta, the society in this novel is also controlled by a totalitarian government in the near future in the Republic of Gilead, a country formed within borders of what was formerly the United States. It was founded by a racist, male chauvinist, nativist, theocratic-organized military coup that launched a revolution mostly targeting women. They took advantage of online banking, freezing the assets of all women and other "undesirables" in the country, stripping their rights away. The story is told from the point of view of a woman named Offred, and she is a character of a class of individuals kept as concubines ("handmaids") for reproductive purposes by the ruling class. The book follows Offred's life from the beginnings of the revolution, when she finds she has lost all autonomy to her husband, through her indoctrination into the life of a handmaid, to her new assignment as handmaid to Fred, (referred to as "The Commander"). The Commander uses her for sex even though he is sterile, so his wife makes a deal with her – she has sex with her driver in an attempt to get pregnant and she will give Offred news of her daughter whom she has not seen or her from since they were separated upon being captured. Through all of this, Offred learns of a revolution, and the novel concludes with Offred being taken away by men in a black van. While this is a rather different society from that of SSTL, there are similarities. The themes found in Shteyngart’s text can also be found here – loss of self, loss of the individual, fear, etc.
I think these themes are crucial in creating a dystopian text, as the loss of these seemingly human characteristics (i.e., individuality, sense of self, identity) compromises what it means to be human at all. In a sense, all of these texts chronicle a “very near” dehumanization of societies as a warning to us all. It is terrifying and uncomfortable yet intriguing all at the same time.
Lauren S.
ReplyDelete“The opposite of utopia” is really the first thing that comes to mind when trying to define dystopia, because ideal society seems to get more thought and attention. Dystopia is a society that has degraded instead of progressed. The ideal society would be marked by peace where no one is hungry, so it is no surprise that Shtyngart’s dystopian novel features a collapsed and discontent America burdened by voracious consumerism. While the society in "Super Sad True Love Story" is technologically advanced and “connected,” it is a society that lacks important human elements and are more trapped by their technology than “freed” by it. The most recent dystopian novel I read was "Never Let Me Go" by Kazuo Ishiguro. A society where clones are raised to donate organ by organ until they “complete,” which is a nice way of saying ‘die.’ The novel really only focuses on the lives of cloned individuals and their struggle to lead fulfilling lives, but the society as a whole that is shown is far from an ideal and warm.
Kara Dunford's Post
ReplyDeleteShteyngart’s novel Super Sad True Love Story is a dystopia because it is centered on the idea of a corrupt society filled with misery, oppression, disease and overcrowding. The message of a dystopian novel is to warn society if the current mindset and lifestyle continues major depressive consequences will follow suit in the near and foreseeable future. Dystopia societies are depicted as featuring a totalitarian government that functions in calamity. Individuality is abolished and citizens are living in a world of violence paralyzed by fear. Members of a dystopian society are completely in tune with their technology devices and out of touch with humanity. Poverty runs rampant as displayed in Shteyngart’s description of the shanty towns in Central Park.
Two dystopian films that come to mind include District 9 and V for Vendetta; I have a negative perception of both films because I’m not a fan of dark and depressive themes. I had the same response after viewing both films over the two years span they both hit theaters, a feeling of disgust and sadness because as depressing as both films were they do not seem like a long shot from our society (aside from aliens living on earth). V for Vendetta released in 2007 is an adaptation of a comic book series and is described as a dystopian thriller. Britain is ruled by a totalitarian government and is controlled by secret police that use their own judgment to corruptively dominate the streets. On a positive note to this dystopian society a hero exists in the form of a freedom fighter.
District 9 is science fiction thriller with a dystopian society released in 2009; themes include xenophobia or hatred and fear of foreigners and social segregation as in the nations attempt to segregate the aliens to district 9 a internment camp style structure to house the aliens until their mother ship is repaired and they can leave earth. The concept for District 9 was inspired by District Six in Cape Town during the apartheid era. The origin for this dystopia tale is based on true events elaborated with the presence of alien life in place of human life therefore the cautionary message is based on a previous event not the future, perhaps to prevent the practice of xenophobia from happening again.
Like many have said before me, a dystopia is a futuristic society that is completly opposite of an utopian society. Where an utopian society is comprised of equal human beings sharing in the same labor towards the same happy end, a dystopian society is often controlled by an unseen, all-seeing government. This omniscient force controls everything in the lives of the people in the dystopia. Although most people are equally treated, they are by no means treated well. The essence of a dystopia is to be futureless. Eventually the controlling force will constrict too tightly and eliminate hope for a future. Shteyngart's novel is most definitely an example of dystopia. The omniscient presence is there in the form of an improved iphone and a creepy nationality changing otter. People are getting weeded out because of their too low credit scores. The idea of a futureless society is blantanly portrayed in the discussion of the U.S.'s falling out with the rest of the world. The American society is on its way out.
ReplyDeleteA few texts come to mind when I think of dystopia. 1984 is the perfect example of dysopia, in its chilling portrayal of a society that, while futuristic, cannot move ahead in time. It is constanly watched over by the likes of "Big Brother." Their technology is used against them much like it is in Shteyngart's story. The other novel I could think of was The Giver which I probably have not read since the 5th grade, but is so good that I can remember it easily now 11 years later. Again, the "utopian" society is actually a dystopian because of the darkness that is subverted throughout the story. The final novel that I think can be classified as dystopian is Farenheit 451, with the incessant book burnings and constant feelings of being watched. When boiled down to the bones dystopia can best be described as "Big Brother" is watching you!
Ryan H.
ReplyDelete"Super Sad True Love Story" is a dystopian text because it presents us with a society that has regressed instead of prospered and stagnates under totalitarian rule. The novel is cautionary in nature, outlining for us a path to national ruin (as if we needed the help).
One thing about dystopias in any form (literature, film) is that they predict a futuristic society that to some degree resembles our own. Shteyngart's novel is particularly effective because the society he depicts is clearly our own with some scarily slight modifications.
And I think the most memorable works depicting a dystopian society are the ones that do no stray far from the world I already know. One work that comes to mind while reading this novel is Alfonso Cuaron's brilliantly shot film "Children of Men." Throughout the novel Lenny and Eunice are constantly arriving at military checkpoints and this was something that particularly stood out to me in "Children of Men." In the book they are seeking out Low Net Worth individuals and destroying them and in the film the British government is rounding up illegal immigrants and dissenters and, basically, exterminating them (or so I was led to believe).
Another work - and you might see this as a stretch but I think it certainly qualifies - is Wall-E. Wall-E is a movie of two parts. The first part is astoundingly beautiful, ranking on it's own as one of the greatest achievements in cinematographic history as far as I'm concerned. And then there is part two - when Pixar remembered this was supposed to be a "kids movie" and added a bunch of fat humans in space. Something prevalent in dystopian works is that the main character is aware of the fact that the society in which he/she exists is the farthest thing from perfect but everyone around them is kind of blind and stupid (unless it's someone they love) and is just happily going along with whatever (they might disagree but they're too scared to do anything). In Wall-E humans have abandoned Earth because it is over-polluted (the moral of the story) and are in space (with no gravity) having computers and machines do everything for them to the point where their bone mass drops dangerously low and they can no longer stand on their own. But they are obsessed with television and technology just like Lenny's friends Noah and Vishnu and the bimbo-like women with which they spend their time. These people stare into their apparati and are so focused on the 'streams' of others that the world around them just fades away. In both cases humans have ignored their needs in favor of convenience and entertainment while the world crumbles around them.
A dystopian text is one that presents the idea of a utopian planet or world, generally a futuristic world where people are living in peril. Dystopias show everyone what can happen if we continue to live the way we do, greedily and without heed. "Super Sad True Love Story" is a dystopian text because it takes place in a future where Lenny has a job that is no longer needed, everyone is obsessed with technology, and the lines of reality are skewed. People don't care about human interaction because they are too concerned with what is happening on the television.
ReplyDeleteAnother dystopian work I have come across is I Am Legend, the cautionary tale of a man who "finds the cure for cancer" and administers it to everyone without knowing that there is a horrible side effect- that it turns everyone into zombies. It is meant to poke fun at the American way of life, our technology race with other countries and what can happen when people aren't careful enough.
Wall.E is also a dystopian text as Ryan suggested above. Wall.E lives in a world that is completely deserted thanks to our over consumption. All that is left is garbage and broken down robots that were built to clean up the garbage until everyone stopped caring and began living in giant aircrafts in the sky.
A dystopia is a fictionalized and somewhat overly dramatic depiction of the future. Common themes of a dystopian text include a society that is dominated by social status, economic success, and often overpowered by a strongly felt military presence. Like postmodern literature, loss of the individual is another common theme included in the dystopian genre. Shteyngart’s novel is easily classifiable as a dystopian work and his representation of the technology and credit score obsessed society is hauntingly not far off from the society we live in today. Although we do not have signs that force us to comply to denying the existence of an object that is clearly in plain sight, 3G internet and wi-fi are practically a standard feature on cell phones today and verbal communication is slowly being taking over by texting.
ReplyDeleteThe only other dystopian text I have come in contact with was M.T. Anderson’s novel Feed. Like the society created by Shteyngart, the world projected in Feed revolves completely around technology and new advances made have allowed electronics to merge with the human mind itself and provide instant information on what a person is thinking, much like the apparat in SSTLS. Consumerism also dominates this society and the American citizens are also implanted with computer chips at birth so leading corporations can manipulate and monitor the consumer’s minds and purchases.
This is one of my favorite books we have read in the class... JBF.
I think that recently there have been a lot of artists (writers, filmmakers, etc.) who have been focusing on digital, virtual realities (Avatar, Inception, and The Social Network, three of the past couple year’s biggest movies, explore the idea pretty directly). Given the rise of our own digital society, I think this is a really relevant topic and is important to address. Facebook, I think, works as a good example. Users can basically use their profile pictures, photo albums, interests, etc. to shape an entirely new person online, the way they want to be seen. Shteyngart’s book definitely uses this idea in his story; the apparat being the most obvious example. The most personal aspects of people’s lives (even a sexual abuse history) shows up for anyone to see in their apparat... much like the way that previously private information (relationship status, sexual orientation, education, etc.) shows up on a general Facebook profile. The FAC scene in the bar illustrates the way that even some the most intimate human exchanges have been reduced to digital messages. That no one reads books anymore is another example of something once so physical and organic having disappeared entirely into a computerized, digital world. I think most of Shteyngart’s criticisms/predictions are spot on, particularly this one. For convenience reasons, I’ve been listening to parts of the audio book version of the novel through my iPod, and it’s been a little chilling to listen to a digital book that talks about the digitization of society. However depressing Shteyngart’s story may be, I think it’s hard to deny the honesty of it.
ReplyDeletethe above comment was posted by Joe Scheiber! ^
ReplyDeleteShteyngart's novel is bleak, nihilistic and set in a fictional world that's anti-utopian. SSTLS, however, isn't operating under the guise of a utopia. Brave New World, 1984, The Giver and Uglies are worlds controlled and manipulated by a ruling class.
ReplyDeleteThe ideas of youth and beauty are interesting in SSTLS. The Giver and Uglies are two novels that deal with beauty in starkly different ways, the latter being a novel where the utopian society is entirely fixated on producing a beautiful world. SSTLS and Uglies both acknowledge image conscious society. Lenny is constantly the butt of jokes and insults regarding his unattractiveness, ranking a meager 120 out of 800 in Male Hotness (91). If Lenny's only a 120, then buddy on the plane is off the charts (and not in a good way). No one except Lenny even makes eye contact with the fat guy: And he looked like a nothing. The way people don't really look anymore. Not just imperfect, but awful. A fat man with deeply recessed eyes, a collapsed chin, limp and dusty hair, a T-shirt that all but exposed his large breasts, and a gross tent of air atop where one imagined his genital would be (35). In Uglies people like Lenny and the fat man wouldn't exist. The Uglies are transformed into Pretties upon turning 16, after undergoing surgery to produce idealized images of themselves. In both SSTLS and Uglies technology is used to construct attractive people, people that could live indefinitely in the the former, and consequently dehumanize and turn into a form of technology, and people that are more than human in the latter, divine in image.
The Giver is a dystopian novel void of beauty, color, and emotion. Similarily, society is almost entirely void of technology as well (with the exception of monitoring screens, reminding us of 1984). All three of these novels seem to suggest that technology and beauty are becoming more and more intertwined. You can't have one without the other. Also, medicine in the form of technology is prevalent in all three novels. In SSTLS and Uglies technology is used to create and maintain beautiful beings while technology comes in the form of pill in The Giver to suppress unwanted innate emotions and desires.
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ReplyDeleteI really like the other examples already mentioned. While “Children of Men” is a little more frightening to me, the setting of “Wall-E” also freaks me out.
ReplyDeleteAs we see in “Super Sad True Love Story,” a reoccurring theme in dystopia fiction is the effects of quickly evolving technology upon a society—dehumanization of people, lack of a middle class, and a military presence or “big brother.” In “Super Sad True Love Story,” apparati have taken the place of verbal communication and intimacy. People don’t get to know each other through conversation, but by a number system (i.e. RateMe). There is almost no hint of emotional intimacy in the idea of sex (outside of Lenny’s mind). In addition to dehumanization, no one has American money anymore and the ARA heavily watches the new totalitarian nation.
I think another important element of dystopia fiction is the "happiness" of the people. As in Shteyngart's novel, most of the characters believe that the technology brings them the utmost happiness although we know that they're struggling economically.
In the movie “I, Robot,” robots interact with everyday life and eventually threaten the safety humankind. Another example of a dystopian film is “Gattaca,” in which the society judges a person by the perfection of their genes rather than their class, race, or gender. I also remember watching Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” (although I didn’t understand or like it); the society is monitored by a wacky, terrifying totalitarian government.
The first thing that pops into my mind when I think of dystopia is of course that it’s opposite of utopia. Where everything in a utopian world is ideal and perfect, a dystopian world is flawed and full of chaos. Although the America Lenny and Eunice lives in seems to be perfect with a society driven by media, wealth, and youth there is no stability in America’s government, financial situation, or accountability to the people or to the world. Everyone is led to believe that the country is all well and good, but in reality it is on the verge falling, becoming a “third-world” country where it is no longer included in the decision making process of the world’s financial community. It is about to be “decoupled” from the rest of the world.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen or heard of more movies than books about dystopian societies, my favorite being one that most people have mentioned already – Wall-e. Other favorites include the Mad Max movies, The Matrix, and The Time Machine (which of course is also a book). Other movies that stand out include iRobot, Artificial Intelligence: AI, Escape from New York, Total Recall, and Gattaca. I can’t forget about Pleasantville, either, about a seemingly perfect “1950s sitcom” society except for the fact that no one ever experiences any type of passion or violence. Until two teenagers from the “real” world are brought there by a remote control. Toby Maguire is the protagonist who begins to question what is going on around him and feels that something is just not quite right. There is a “strict conformity among citizens and the general assumption that dissent and individuality are bad” and Maguire sets out to change it.
A dystopia is a world or society which operates in essentially unpleasant or even harsh ways. The first novel that comes to mind is ironically Moore's Utopia, While the title suggests an ideal society, it is quite the opposite. The society and the citizens within its confines present the world as serene and perfect, but as soon as one delves deeper into its principles extreme flaws and limitations surface.
ReplyDeleteAnother novel that comes to mind is Huxley's Brave New World. In the way the novel features technology it is similar to Shteyngart's novel. Brave New World in an immensely dark look into the possible repercussions of a society obsessed with evolving science and obsessed with abandoning emotional ties- even with children. Its a society devoted to a caste system to the worst possible degree and it is one so obsessed with attaining said system through any means deemed necessary.
A dystopia is a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding. SSTLS is just that. It is a society that has been taken over by technology and loss of self.
ReplyDeleteThe first dystopian novel I read was Fahrenheit 451. The government has banned books and sanctions public book burnings. Firemen are employed to burn the books not put out fires.
The second dystopian novel I read was The Handmaid's Tale. Women were used as concubines to higher ranking officials in the government because their barren wives could not do so. If unable to produce a child the women were sent to a society of undesirables. Again there was total government control. Also like in Shteyngart's novel verbal communication is limited and written text is almost obsolete. Reading is seen as a way to sin and for the women to think for themselves, so much so that even store names are replaced by pictures of what they sell.
The three novels are stories depicting oppression and the loss of self through governmental control.
"Dystopia" has already been defined here, and very thoroughly. I think the thing that characterizes it in my mind is that in a dystopia, human potential and human freedom are meaningless. In a utopia, people are free to become whoever and whatever they want to be, whatever they can be. In dystopias, that self-actualization is not possible, because humans are cogs in a system, being controlled.
ReplyDeleteThe first dystopia I ever read about, and which always comes to mind, was in the book A Wrinkle in Time. The planet that Meg, Charles Wallace and Calvin go to, where everyone does everything in absolute lockstep or else get punished, is a dystopia. Thinking about it now, I can see that it was a comment on the developing suburban conformity of the US in the 50s and 60s. The entire planet is run by a huge telepathic brain called IT, and Meg frees Charles Wallace from it through the power of her love. That's a pretty stark image of the potential that human love and the desire to be free has against outside powers trying to control us, so in the end the entire book is pretty optimistic.
I also think about a couple of comics. One is the X:Men story "Days of Future Past", where a Kitty Pryde comes to the present (sort of) from a future in which mutants are kept in internment camps and killed off. This was the story that started the whole "Mutants as Jews as hated outsiders" trope that I don't think that X-Men has ever gotten away from altogether. Watchmen, a comic written by Alan Moore, is also a classic dystopian fiction, in which the characters are manipulated and controlled by forces outside themselves (well, Adrian Veidt, wielding the power of his riches, technology and insanity). It's sort of interesting that there is an ultimate villain, if not behind the entire dystopia, then at least taking advantage of the way it works to get what he wants done. I don't think that genuine dystopias can be seen to be the work of any one person imposing tyranny. Rather, they are societies that emerge from already obvious cultural trends being taken to certain extremes, perhaps based on events in the past like the Holocaust that show us what people can be capable of at times.
Katie Richardson:
ReplyDeleteThe definition of dystopia from dictionary.com is “a society characterized by human misery, squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.” Other dystopian novels I have read would be 1984 and Fahrenheit 451. 1984 is famous for the idea of “big brother” and always being monitored by the government, while Fahrenheit 451 deals with the government and their “book burning” to control human thought and reading.
Shteyngart’s novel A Super Sad True Love Story is a dystopian novel because it often dehumanizes people into products, what they buy, their credit score, their cholesterol level, and their “fuckability.” There is a loss of the individual of Eunice is driven by here extreme focus on clothing, rating, and her online discussions with her friends and her sister. Another thing that makes this novel dystopian is the constant presence of the military looming in the background. The threat of being bought out and government collapse adds to the feeling of doom and destruction in the background of these characters already pathetic, product driven lives.
A Super Sad True Love Story is definitely a dystopian text. The definition of dystopian fiction revolves around societies that are repressed and controlled. The repression and control usually comes from different sources such as government, aliens, technology, or corporations. These can be combines in several different ways and can be classified into genres such as post apocalyptic, cyber-punk, and others. A Super Sad True Love Story is dystopian because it deals with the idea that technology will control our lives in a way that will be repressing us while seeming to be utopian. Technology will basically supersede humans by getting rid of the humanity of our race.
ReplyDeleteI really love dystopian works and honestly I was having a hard time picking just two works I wanted to relate A Super Sad True Love Story to. One of my favorite books is Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said by Phillip K. Dick. The novel centers on Jason Taverner, a famous TV personality that has identity stripped from him and erased from society’s memory. The book revolves around his survival as the government tries to abduct him. The novel is dystopian because it features an oppressive government that viciously checks IDs at checkpoints. The story is interesting because it also has another main narrative told by Felix Buckman, the Police General, who is after Taverner.
Another dystopian work I’ve seen is the heavily psychological movie The End of Evangelion and TV series Neon Genesis Evangelion directed by Hideaki Anno. The movie and the show deals with aliens called “Angels” that arrives from outer space to destroy Earth. The premise is in the near future where the government of Japan is controlled by a puppet government which is controlled by three supercomputers. The story centers around the pilots and members of the paramilitary organization tasked with destroying the Angel threat, “Nerv”.
Dystopia is the antithesis of Utopia, as defined repeatedly above. Two things that stand out to me about Dystopias and SSTLS are how class distinctions are more significant and how humanity is suppressed by the march of progress.
ReplyDeleteA rigid class or caste system is a feature in many dystopias, such as Brave New World. What strikes me about SSTLS is how class is more visible than it has been since before the industrial revolution. There's no chance passing for a higher class when everyone can see personal information so easily. The man on the plane is arrested because he can't be easily categorized without his apparat, which is an abhorrent crime in a society obsessed with quick evaluations.
These quick judgments based on cursory information from an apparat are one of the many ways in which technology is at odds with human happiness, as in many dystopias. In fact, More's Utopia places little value on material goods or the advancement of technology. In SSTLS, technology prevents more connections than it creates, and ones it does facilitate are often shallow and unsatisfying.
Dystopia... everyone is going to give the same goddamn Wikipedia definition of the word/genre, so I decided to choose the next entry on the Google results list: Dystopia. A Cyberpunk Game for the Source Engine http://www.dystopia-game.com/. I don't know about you, but I just felt like jumping in a time machine and racing back to Freshman year to high-five my English teacher; Hell, I'd even put up with the annoying, mid-pubescent teen body to do it. In all seriousness, a "Dystopia," is a society portrayed in movies, books or other art mediums to be the antithesis of a utopia. Like someone turned the dial from "Good," to "Oh-My-God-What-The-Fuck?!" on the "set societal alignment," circuit board. I imagine God has one of these boards at his constant disposal, like the mayor of a giant real-world Sim City. I only wish there were more nation crushing monsters and alien invasions. Dystopias may wear the guise of a Utopia, or they may claim to be good and advanced, when in reality they are harmful to society and posses few redeemable qualities. They often advocate morally bankrupt actions, such as disregard for human life, total entertainment immersion, gratuitous amounts of un-devoted sexual contact, and the devaluing of education and higher learning. All of these things can be seen in Fahrenheit 451, which portrays a society in the future, where books are banned, and people are focused solely on entertaining themselves. It should be noted that Dystopias are typically satirical of a perceived present-day problem, and are written in response to people's actions. One other Dystopia that I would like to reflect on is not a movie or a book, but a video game. Known as "Bioshock," the game encompasses many themes purported by Ayn Rand, and shows how when taken to the extreme, they can actually destroy society and people. Here is a link to the wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock, and although not fully in-depth, it reviews the plot of the game, providing a little picture of the plot synopsis. Super Sad True Love Story encompasses many of the themes mentioned previously, devaluing education, increased focus on entertainment etc. Additionally, the Dystopian genre is usual told from the perspective of one who questions the norms of the failed society, and Lenny is no exception. It seems to be written in response to the author's perceptions of the direction society is heading with the vast emphasis on communication and information, all the while trying to get the point across, that half of this information and data that is not only used in the book, but seen by people today, is pointless and unnecessary.
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ReplyDeleteWhen I first started reading Super Sad True Love Story, I was reminded of another book I read called The Hunger Games. In this story, the protagonist (Katniss) is forced to participate a “game” where there can be only one survivor. The government forces its citizens to participate in this bloodbath as a reminder for their trying to revolt years before. This compulsory participation is just one of the ways the government oppresses its people. Constant police presence, dependence on government for food, propaganda/restriction of news and information, and forced living in each district are just some of the other ways the Panem government oppress its people. It is also interesting to see the contrast between the first district and the majority of the others. The government headquarters is there, as well as the majority of the wealth. Here people live excessive, modify their appearances through makeup, tattoos, or other extreme means, and see the Games as a form of entertainment rather than a punishment. Advertisers and sponsors play a huge role in the game by being able to change the direction of the games by sending food, weapons, or medicine to bestow an advantage on the recipient. Another aspect of a dystopia is the ability of viewers to observer the contestants twenty-four hours a day. As far as technology goes, the protagonist goes hunting with a bow and arrow, whereas the first district has advanced monitoring systems, weapons, and futuristic cities. It is an America set in the future after a great war, where nuclear weapons are still present and technology and power is with the elite.
ReplyDeleteAnother example is a television series called “The Prisoner.” A former British agent is kidnapped and taken to a remote city. Despite its ideal location, the main character, #6, wants to escape. The antagonist, who constantly changes, is able to monitor the whole town from a central location and keeps everyone in line with the help of a huge bubble. One of the scariest things for me is the inability of the character to trust anyone. He constantly failing at his attempts to escape because of the people he enlists to help. They turn out to be agents of the controlling faction, who are trying to figure out why #6 left the British service.
A Super Sad True Love Story shares many of the same themes of The Hunger Games and “The Prisoner.” From oppressive governments who control their citizens with a mixture of fear, military forces, and the threat of deportation (or death) to the overall feeling that an individual has very little power or ability to change and improve their situation. The constant surveillance and ability of “big brother” to monitor and track is another common theme. As a result, all three characters do not know who they can trust or confide in. It makes the settings extremely unsettling and hostile. Noah could be working for the ARA, but Lenny does not know and so he cannot take any chances by truly being his friend. I find it interesting that both Lenny and Katniss each try to escape their current situations by reverting back to activities that are more primitive: books for Lenny and hunting in the woods for Katniss. Someone mentioned in class the cyclical nature of a dystopia, and I think that both of these stories support that idea.
From Wikipedia you can get a broad overview of a dystopia “an often futuristic society that has degraded into a repressive and controlled state, often under the guise of being utopian. Dystopian literature has underlying cautionary tones, warning society that if we continue to live how we do, this will be the consequence. A dystopia, thus, is regarded as a sort of negative utopia and is often characterized by an authoritarian or totalitarian form of government. Dystopias usually feature different kinds of repressive social control systems, a lack or total absence of individual freedoms and expressions and constant states of warfare or violence. Dystopias often explore the concept of humans abusing technology and how humans individually and collectively cope with technology that has evolved too quickly. A dystopian society is also often characterized by mass poverty and brutal political controls such as a large military-like police.”
ReplyDeleteThe biggest thing that stands out to me as related to SSTLS is about technology and how people cope with a fast moving society. I feel like SSTLS is a dystopian society, but at the same time it seems closer to home because of the other aspects of culture that Shteyngart focuses on (technological aspects such as Globalteens, the otter, apparat etc.).
Some other texts that come up to mind are more traditional, The Book of Eli (movie) and The Road (novel by Cormac McCarthy and a movie). In The Book of Eli books are scarce, especially the Bible. There is a lot of crime and violence with no real police force. The cities are gone and towns resemble those of old time westerns. In the end, we find that Denzel Washington’s character is blind, and has the last copy of the Bible, but it is in brail. He finds a safe haven where there is a collection of books and the bible is translated from brail with his help. In The Road, there is no government, and it is a post-apocalyptic society (if I remember correctly it is after a nuclear or natural disaster). As winter begins, a father and son make their way down the east coast searching for warmer areas in order to survive. Along the journey they encounter violent groups of people as everyone is out for themselves to survive and there is a massive loss of humanity.
Sarah Thomas
ReplyDeleteBecause I don't usually read contemporary literature, I'm not familiar with many dystopian novels. Certainly Mao II is an example. The biggest connection I made to another dystopian text was the Mike Judge's goofy movie Idiocracy. Luke Wilson's character Joe, of average intelligence and strength, is frozen and wakes up in the distant future. He finds that he's the smartest man alive as only low I.Q., "poor" individuals have reproduced while smarter, richer people died off. Technology and superstore Costco does the work and thinking for everyone. Hospitals treat people the same way a food order is taken, pressing buttons with the right picture. Physical pleasure is the driving force of most actions. Starbucks becomes a "whore house" and Ow my balls is one of the most popular shows. Sex and fighting are most important. The president is a famous wrestler. People are so invested in pleasing themselves they are disconnected from others. They're sense of identity comes from technology. Joe's name is entered in "the system" as Not Sure and he is therefore called that by people. His identity isn't recognized by others coming from himself, but what technology says.
This disconnection from others and relationship with technology is seen in SSTLS. They don't see the person, they see what there apparat sees. They see credit scores and "fuckability" ratings. Words are lost to acronyms which are lost to images. Technology is a medium for communication today, but in Lenny's world it is the primary and preferred mode of communicating. Technology isn't a middle man, but the way to talk to people. It's a way to be more self-absorbed and not have to worry about others needs. It seems like more of a disconnection in the novel than anything.