Toward Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia: Parable of the Talents, Oryx and Crake and The Road
Date Issued
2010
Date
2010
Author(s)
Jiang, Zhe-Wei
Abstract
This thesis ventures to propose a new genre around the turn of the new millennium—post-apocalyptic dystopia—which differs from classical and critical dystopia in the past. The new dystopia is distinguished by its special emphasis on the post-apocalyptic, which has impact on the dystopian and utopian dimensions of the text and brings up vital dynamics among apocalyptic, utopian and dystopian elements within the work. This thesis chooses three representative works to present different aspects of post-apocalyptic dystopia: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents (1998), Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003) and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006). In Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler’s investigation of the issue of problem and solution opens up a trajectory that helps her recognize the limitation of critical dystopia and depart from it. In Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood extrapolates contemporary global risk and translates it into fictional catastrophes in Snowman’s memories. Last but not least, Cormac McCarthy in The Road seeks to reassert the utopian function of art and culture even in the culture-less and meaningless post-apocalyptic landscape. The emergence of post-apocalyptic dystopia in fact reflects writers’ anxiety about all sorts of looming global risk. By pinpointing the worst apocalyptic scenario for the readers, writers of post-apocalyptic dystopia seek to raise people’s awareness about the emergency of the global risk and convey a hope that the risk, once portrayed, can be avoided if readers take action in advance.
Subjects
Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia
Utopia
Dystopia
Apocalypse
Octavia Butler
Margaret Atwood
Cormac McCarthy
Type
thesis
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