All the world a school: Utopian literature as a critique of education

This dissertation, "All the World a School" argues for a reconceptualization of dystopian literature. Traditionally, dystopian literature has been viewed as offering a critique of politics and economics. I argue that dystopian literature also offers a critique of educational practices and institutions. In this dissertation, I examine the following texts: Chapter One pairs William Dean Howells's A Traveler from Altruria and Jack London's The Iron Heel. Chapter Two pairs George Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. Chapter Three pairs Hermann Hesse's The Glass Bead Game and Walter Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz. Chapter Four pairs Ursula LeGuin's The Dispossessed And Stephen King's The Running Man. Chapter Five pairs Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower and Paul Theroux's O-Zone.