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Introduction

Utopianism in Dark Times

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 May 2024

Sherryl Vint
Affiliation:
University of California, Riverside
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the importance of utopian theorizing in the twenty-first century. It resituates utopianism, through Blochean theory, as larger than a literary genre and more diverse than representations of perfect societies. Rather, it celebrates an ideal of the utopianism of the everyday, of the here-and-now as much as of the future. It argues for a utopianism that is necessarily decolonial as it seeks to undo the damage of racial capitalism and provide imaginative resources for living differently. It concludes with an overview of the chapters collected in this book, showing that they explore both reactionary or nostalgically inflected visions of America’s settler-colonial utopian foundations, as well as centering new strains of utopian thought emerging from the margins of hegemonic American culture.

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Introduction
  • Edited by Sherryl Vint, University of California, Riverside
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to American Utopian Literature and Culture since 1945
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009180078.001
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Sherryl Vint, University of California, Riverside
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to American Utopian Literature and Culture since 1945
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009180078.001
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Introduction
  • Edited by Sherryl Vint, University of California, Riverside
  • Book: The Cambridge Companion to American Utopian Literature and Culture since 1945
  • Online publication: 09 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009180078.001
Available formats
×