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Människan och livet i fyra litterära dystopiska samhällen: Boyes Världsstaten, Orwells Oceanien, Samjatins Den Enda Staten och Godards Alphaville
Karlstad University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (starting 2013), Department of Language, Literature and Intercultural Studies (from 2013).
2015 (Swedish)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE creditsStudent thesisAlternative title
Man and life in four literary dystopias: Boye's World State, Orwell's Oceania, Samjatin's One State and Godard's Alphaville (English)
Abstract [en]

This thesis examines four literary dystopic texts: We (1924) by Eugen Samjatin, Kallocain (1940) by Karin Boye, Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949) by George Orwell and Alphaville (1965) by Jean-LucGodard. The main objective of the study is to shed light on the description of totalitarian regimes as portrayed in the dystopias. This is done partly in relation to man and life in general and partly to the theory on totalitarian regimes as used in political science. For this purpose the theories of Hannah Arendt and Richard Shorten among others are used. As an introduction, a literary research overview of dystopic literature is given, as well as a brief history of utopian and dystopic literature. The four texts, three novels and one film script, are analyzed regarding a number of features or themes, relevant to the inquiry. Among these we find the topics of architecture, nature of oppression, indoctrination and control, family and sexual politics and views on the individual and history. Comparison and discussion regarding these topics are made in relation to the texts and the theory at hand. It is concluded that the portrayed regimes in the dystopic narratives are quite similar to each other and share many common properties with the definition of totalitarism in political science. To some degree the texts also seem to offer different views on the role of women and maternity, as well as the possibility of resistance and hope for the future. It is also possible to see a relevance of the texts in their historical context and as extrapolations of future trends.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. , p. 48
National Category
General Literature Studies
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kau:diva-35054OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kau-35054DiVA, id: diva2:784384
Subject / course
Comparative Literature
Supervisors
Examiners
Available from: 2025-03-05 Created: 2015-01-29 Last updated: 2025-03-05Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

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Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • apa.csl
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf