LITR 5737 Literary & Historical Utopias

Monday, 10 June: Herland

assignments for Anthem

read introduction to Anthem, esp. questions of genre on pp. vii-viii

read through p. 77 (through ch. VII) at least

Tuesday:

complete Anthem (through ch. XII, p. 105)

Discussion of Anthem:

compare / contrast to utopian texts

What do the utopias scant or blur that Rand develops?

dystopia or counter-utopia?

Resemblance to other dystopias or satirical utopias like Brave New World, Nineteen Eight-Four, Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies

Dystopia as "inversion" of utopia? (i. e., does dystopia simply turn utopia on its head, or inside out?)

Conclusion to Anthem: does it expose the upsides of utopia?

Comparison of some consistent utopian themes with "status quo" of capitalism, nationalism, etc.

Looking Backward

ch. 18, paragraph 3, Dr. Leete: " . . . the labor we have to render as our part in securing for the nation the means of a comfortable physical existence is by no means regarded as the most important, . .  . interesting, or . . . dignified employment of our power. We look upon it as a necessary duty to be discharged before we can fully devote ourselves to the higher exercise of our faculties, the intellectual and spiritual enjoyments and pursuits which alone mean life." 

cf. Max Weber ("father of sociology"): presumption that as modern culture progressed to meet basic needs of life, people would have more leisure for self-culture, e. g., learning to play musical instruments, recreation, etc.

what happened instead: work longer with less leisure in order to buy things formerly didn't need.

Herland

61 grew together, not by competition, but by united action

68 since the prosperity of their children depended on it, the fullest and subtlest coordination began to be practiced

68 women are the natural cooperators, not men

69 Mothers: helpless involuntary fecundity > Conscious Makers of People

70 mother = own pink fascinating bundle of babyhood

76 “But as to everyone knowing which child belongs to which mother—why should she?”

77 finished product is not a private one [private property, private family]

 89 extremely high sense of solidarity

95 no exact analogue for our word home, any more then they had for our Roman-based family . . . devotion to their country and people for which our word patriotism is no definition at all . . .neglect of national interests . . . largely pride . .

97 when we began to talk about each couple having “homes” of our own, they could not understand it. . . . “A man wants a home of his own, with his wife and family in it.”

124-5 personal privacy, possession

Literary issues:

Stylistically, Herland is a tour de force [a feat of skill, ingenious accomplishment]. Compared to most other utopian novels, the novel's style is surprisingly brisk and energetic.

Written in 1915-16, Gilman's style appears to imitate that of various male swashbuckling adventure novelists of the time such as Edgar Rice Burroughs (Tarzan and John Carter, Warlord of Mars series, both begun 1912); Anthony Hope (Prisoner of Zenda 1894), H. Rider Haggard (She 1886, King Solomon's Mines 1885)

Told through male point-of-view

Three distinct male characters visit an "Amazonian" hidden valley (cf. Shangri-La)

Highest interest of novel may be Gilman's depiction of male psychology in reaction to women in power.

But . . . 

Some problems with women's characterization

Problem of sameness in utopian community?

At what points do women characters achieve most literary impact?

83 disproportionate egotism > sure she had the right to have children, even that hers would be better than others

90-1 I liked her that day she balanced . . . I thought of her most

91 a sense of understanding, identity, purpose

100 Life is a struggle, has to be

100 The drama of the country was—to our taste—rather flat . . lacked the sex motives and, with it, jealousy

100 impressive array of pageantry, processions, grand ritual, with arts and religion broadly blended

126 “we” x-personal

126-7 sweet intense joy of married lovers > higher creative work . . . doing this in season and out of season with no thought of children at all?

127 bowed my hot head on her shoulder

 140 “adventures by sea and land,” as you say

Herland maintains most of these divisions, but instead of concentrating on property-labor as essential or determining division in society, it concentrates on gender.

eco-feminism is a hybrid word of "ecological feminism"

eco-feminism definition

"environmental feminism"

(One reason this subject is brought up here is that much of Herland anticipates our last course text, Ecotopia.)

Leftover notes from previous classes

"Millennialism" in both Looking Backward & Herland

2c. How does the introduction of “millennialism” (end-time or apocalyptic narrative) transform the plot of the utopian narrative?

Herland creation story depends on violent apocalyptic narrative

Looking Backward depends on an alternative "post-millennial" millennialism that is a tradition in liberal American Christianity--less about Judgment Day, more about establishment or fulfillment of Kingdom of God on Earth, America as "New Jerusalem" (Brook Farm, the Transcendentalist Utopia, started with similar theories by Unitarian ministers.)

Daniel's links

On page 58 of Herland, we learn that they worship the goddess Maaia. Below is a great web page I found on the nature of Maia, plus her role as the three faces of woman-virgin, mother, crone-similar to the role of the original parthenogenic woman-Queen, Priestess, Mother (59).

This is a really interesting site that incorporates both koinonia and utopianism.

This site gives a good discussion of the meaning of koinonia.

I found this site while looking for annus mundi. It’s interesting look at apocalyptic millennialism.