By Bryony Wright
Dystopian fiction is becoming more and more relevant. WeÔÇÖre living in an age of ÔÇÿdoom and gloomÔÇÖ: turn on the TV, and youÔÇÖll see apocalyptic scenes caused by global warming. Walk down the street, and Orwellian public surveillance systems watch your every move. ItÔÇÖs no wonder, then, that writers increasingly choose to take to dystopian fiction to voice their concerns about the state of the world – and what better way to do this than speculating about what might happen?
Speculative fiction has been around for ages. First coined by American sci-fi author Robert Heinlein in 1947, the genre encompasses literature that deals with circumstances outside of reality, often involving imagined, supernatural, and/or futuristic elements. Although it wasnÔÇÖt recognised as a genre until the 20th century, elements of speculative fiction have been identified dating as far back as the Ancient Greek era, and were prevalent in Shakespearian literature.
ItÔÇÖs easy to blur the lines between the speculative genre and its literary siblings, science fiction and fantasy in particular. American author Ursula. K. Le Guin separates these terms by describing speculative fiction as writing which concerns itself with things that could really happen, classifying anything that falls outside of this definition as fantasy. By this logic, we can define some sci-fi as speculative fiction, depending on whether or not itÔÇÖs likely to happen in real life. Dystopic fiction, referring to literature which revolves around suffering and injustice in society, can be speculative, but often encompasses works that are fantastical and difficult to relate to situations that exist, or have existed, in the real world.
Dystopian speculative fiction, as a blend of these two genres, is especially captivating. ItÔÇÖs engaging and perceptive, creating societies that are problematic and dangerous, and placing them in a context that makes them seem just realistic enough to startle their audiences. TheyÔÇÖre often allegorical, and say a lot about the societies in which they were written or inspired by.
Margaret Atwood does a great job of exemplifying the dystopic speculative genre. Her 1985 novel The HandmaidÔÇÖs Tale is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of modern speculative fiction out there. Atwood defines speculative fiction as literature that deals with plausible situations that have not yet happened. Written in the midst of the backlash against the rights that women had fought for in the 60s and 70s, AtwoodÔÇÖs novel is situated in the theocratic regime of Gilead, and is centered around the persecution of womenÔÇÖs political freedoms and bodily autonomy. It also touches on the dangers of ecocide, reflecting 80s fears about environmental destruction and its impact on humanity. When put into a historical context, itÔÇÖs clear to see AtwoodÔÇÖs intentions with the book ÔÇô she was warning her audience, letting them know what could happen.
Another fantastic example of speculative fiction is George OrwellÔÇÖs Nineteen Eighty-Four. Published in 1949, the novella was written in the aftermath of the Second World War. Accordingly, the book is crammed full of references to real-life totalitarianism- Orwell himself wrote that the book was ÔÇÿaimed directly against some of the most powerful movements of our time.ÔÇÖ Take the Thought Police, for example ÔÇô a secret police system organised by the government, who use terror to keep citizens in line with the PartyÔÇÖs rules. Or the Junior Spies network, in which children are indoctrinated into snitching on their parents to the State. Terrifying examples of power such as these are woven throughout the book and cannot fail to remind the reader of entities such as HitlerÔÇÖs Nazi Youth and Gestapo ÔÇô a deliberate move on OrwellÔÇÖs part.
The scary thing is, these dystopian realities arenÔÇÖt so distant from life as we know it today. Worldwide, rates of assisted reproductive technology are rising by 5% each year, with studies linking infertility rates to an increased body load of environmental toxins. Recent movements such as #MeToo highlight the misogyny and violence against women that exist in our current society. In 2019, Wikipedia joined other information sources such as Google on the list of websites banned in China, exemplifying the censorship and restrictions on peopleÔÇÖs freedoms that are propelling one of the worldÔÇÖs leading nations towards totalitarianism. Even more shockingly, in 2018, Reporters Without Borders ranked the UK 40th out of 180 countries on its World Press Freedom Index, implying that itÔÇÖs one of the most censored countries in Western Europe. This is startling news when you consider how the world looks to countries such as the UK as pillars of democracy and freedom.
All in all, itÔÇÖs clear that speculative fiction often turns out to be not so fictitious after all. Time and time again, the books that muse on our futures turn out to be more like prophecies than hypotheses. Considering this, perhaps itÔÇÖs time we all paid more attention to the likes of Atwood and Orwell, so as to avoid replicating the worlds that they so astutely create in their novels.
