Dystopian Fiction

Dystopian
Fiction: From Brave New World to “The Man Who Ended History”

Babies
born in labs. Enforced group suicide for the old and sickly. A time machine
that allows people to revisit and witness historical moments of unspeakable
horror. Genetically engineered food—and people. A single man with the power to
change the world with his dreams. From Aldous Huxley’s classic Brave New
World
to Ken Liu’s “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary,” a recent
nominee for both the Nebula and Hugo Best Novella Award, this course looks at
five works that offer dystopian views of the future. Through writing and
discussion, we will explore how dystopian fiction reflects and comments on the
political and social issues of its time.


Requirements:

Four formal
essays, reading response papers, midterm, final, attendance and participation.


Texts:

Brave New
World
(1932)

Aldous
Huxley

Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics (October 17, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0060850523

ISBN-13: 978-0060850524

 

The Lathe
of Heaven
(1971)

Ursula K. Le
Guin

Publisher: Scribner; Reprint edition (April 15, 2008)

ISBN-10: 1416556966

ISBN-13: 978-1416556961

 

The
Children of Men
(1992)

P. D. James

Publisher: Vintage; Rei Rep edition (May 16, 2006)

ISBN-10: 0307275434

ISBN-13: 978-0307275431

 

The
Windup Girl
(2010)

Paolo
Bacigalupi 

Publisher: Night Shade Books; First Edition edition (May 1,
2010)

ISBN-10: 1597801585

ISBN-13: 978-1597801584

 

“The Man Who
Ended History: A Documentary” (2011)

Ken Liu

Available
free online at

http://kenliu.name/binary/liu_the_man_who_ended_history.pdf