Dreams of Paradise, Visions of Apocalypse: Utopia and Dystopia in American Culture

by Jaap Verheul

The book explores the fundamental and multifaceted dialectic between utopian dreams and dystopian nightmares within American culture. The utopian mindset in constructing and imagining different futures for society is reflected in a wide range of differential cultural texts and narratives such as novels, short stories, political discourses and treatises, journalism and scholarly and intellectual debates. Often these combine social criticism and satire, political rhetoric, religious belief systems, and biblical metaphors. Approaching the topic from various angles and throughout different historical periods, the essays in this volume collectively show how fascinating and rewarding the exploration of this utopian discourse of for an understanding of American culture.

252 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[The Half-blood Reader]

College reads: I only read chapters/sections relevant to my studies, hence the dnf (Utopian Literature in the United States 1990-2000 by Lyman Tower Sargent)