Genre Study 1: What is Dystopia?

Over the past week or so I have published a number of reivews on books that technically aren't 'dystopian' insofar as it is commonly understood. Often if you ask someone what dystopia is you will get answers that I would boil down into two general categories: 1. 1984 Orwellsian Big Brother or 2. Mad Maxian post-apocalypse barbaric wasteland. And, generally, most "dystopian literature" falls under these categories to greater and lesser degrees. However a quick look at the definitions of dystopia may help.

 

• The Oxford English Dictionary defines the word ‘Dystopia’ as, “an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one,” and Merriam-Webster similarly defines ‘Dystopia’ as, “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives.”