| The project of this work is twofold. First, it examines the utopian dimensions of the critical dystopia (which came to prominence during the conservative turn in the United States during the 1980s), finding that it is among the best-suited genres for exhibiting utopian longing in American cultural production. Second, it looks at how the proliferation of the critical dystopia across a variety of cultural media in the United States supports this position. The case is made through a look at the genre as grounded in the context of the early 21st century, during which time it has expanded from literature and film to become increasingly used as a narrative framework in television, music, and even gaming. Looking at a sampling of these cultural media---specifically a novel, a concept album with an accompanying gaming component, and a film---will show a utopian function of the critical dystopia in a contemporary cultural moment that might best be characterized as dystopian itself... |
