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