Utopias and dystopias
Kurt Vonnegut was a key contributor to twentieth-century postwar utopian-dystopian discourse. This page provides links to selected utopian and dystopian literature and criticism, as well as to resources for further utopian and anti-utopian research in the IU Libraries' print and electronic collections.
The Republic by ISBN: 9780141442433Publication Date: 2012Classical utopia and one of the most influential works of Western philosophy.
Utopia by ISBN: 0521403189Publication Date: 1995Translation of work first published in 1516 from which the term "utopia" derives. Thomas More's "Utopia" remains one of the most influential books in the Western philosophical and literary tradition.
The City of the Sun: A Poetical Dialogue by ISBN: 9780520040366Publication Date: 1981Renaissance utopian work first published in 1623.
Bacon: Selected Philosophical Works by ISBN: 9780872204706Publication Date: 1999Selected philosophical and scientific writings by Sir Francis Bacon, including his utopian novel "New Atlantis" (1627).
Three Early Modern Utopias by ISBN: 0192838857Publication Date: 1999E-book. Contains the texts of Thomas More's "Utopia" (1516), Francis Bacon's "New Atlantis" (1627), and Henry Neville's "Isle of Pines" (1668).
Gulliver's Travels by ISBN: 0393957241Publication Date: 2002Satirical travel narrative with anti-utopian elements first published in 1726.
Gulliver's Travels by ISBN: 0192805347Publication Date: 2005E-book. "Oxford World's Classics" edition.
Candide; or, Optimism by ISBN: 0300106556Publication Date: 2005Influential novel first published in 1759. "Candide" satirizes the Leibnizian philosophy of optimism and may be read as dystopian fiction.
Travels in Icaria by ISBN: 9780815630098Publication Date: 2003Utopian novel published in 1840 by French radical republican Étienne Cabet.
Erewhon by ISBN: 0140430571Publication Date: 1970Satirical utopian novel first published in 1872. "Erewhon" criticizes Victorian society.
Looking Backward, 2000-1887 by ISBN: 9780192806291Publication Date: 2007E-book. Influential anti-capitalist utopian novel originally published in 1888.
News from Nowhere; and, Selected Writings and Designs by ISBN: 0140431152Publication Date: 1984Utopian novel first published in 1890. Morris's "News from Nowhere" is also a critique of Edward Bellamy's "Looking Backward."
A Traveler from Altruria by ISBN: 031211799XPublication Date: 1996Anti-capitalist utopian novel published in 1894. A traveler from a distant utopia visits the United States.
A Modern Utopia by ISBN: 9781775567882Publication Date: 2009Novel from 1905 depicting a utopian society. E-book.
Herland and Related Writings by ISBN: 9781551119878Publication Date: 2013Feminist utopian novel originally published in 1915.
The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings by ISBN: 9780143105855Publication Date: 2019E-book. Penguin Books edition.
We by ISBN: 9780812974621Publication Date: 2006First published in English in 1924, Zamyatin's "We" depicts a dystopian totalitarian society.
Brave New World and Brave New World Revisited by ISBN: 0060535261Publication Date: 2004Dystopian classic first published in 1932 against the backdrop of the rise of fascism.
Lost Horizon by ISBN: 0688146562Publication Date: 1995Popular utopian adventure novel first published in 1933.
Walden Two by Publication Date: 1962Controversial utopian novel by behavioral psychologist B. F. Skinner. Originally published in 1948.
1984 by ISBN: 9780679417392Publication Date: 1992Novel originally published in 1949 depicting a dystopian totalitarian state.
Lord of the Flies by ISBN: 0333404092Publication Date: 1986Classic anti-utopian young adult novel from 1954.
Ecotopia: The Notebooks and Reports of William Weston by Publication Date: 1975Novel from 1975 depicting the Pacific Northwest as an environmental utopia.
Utopianism: A Very Short Introduction by ISBN: 9780199573400Publication Date: 2010Introductory study of the history of utopianism.
Historical Dictionary of Utopianism by ISBN: 9781538102169Publication Date: 2017Dictionary of utopianism. Introductory work. E-book.
Searching for Utopia: The History of an Idea by ISBN: 9780500251744Publication Date: 2011Traces the influence of the idea of utopia on history, literature, art, architecture, and religious and political thought.
The Concept of Utopia by ISBN: 9783039113668Publication Date: 2010Classic work on the concept of utopia originally published in 1990. E-book.
Dystopia by ISBN: 9781429837330Publication Date: 2013Critical introduction to the concept of dystopia.
Dystopia: A Natural History by ISBN: 9780198785682Publication Date: 2017A wide-ranging study of the concept of dystopia through the ages. E-book.
The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature by ISBN: 9780521886659Publication Date: 2010Historical survey of the utopian and dystopian literary tradition.
Dystopian Literature: A Theory and Research Guide by ISBN: 0313291152Publication Date: 1994Introductory guide to the study of dystopian literature.
America's Communal Utopias by ISBN: 0807846090Publication Date: 1997Essays on America's utopian communities throughout history. E-book.
The Quest for Utopia in Twentieth-Century America by ISBN: 0815627750Publication Date: 1998Chronicle of intentional communities in the United States in the twentieth century.
The Utopian Alternative: Fourierism in Nineteenth-Century America by ISBN: 0801424674Publication Date: 1991Work examining the influence of Fourier's utopian socialism in North America.
Utopias in Ancient Thought by ISBN: 9783110733129Publication Date: 2021Study of utopias in the Greek and Roman worlds and their influence. E-book.
Nowhere in the Middle Ages by ISBN: 9780812248111Publication Date: 2016Examines utopian thought in the Middle Ages. E-book.
Renaissance Utopias and the Problem of History by ISBN: 0801434009Publication Date: 1998Readings of three English Renaissance utopias.
Utopian Literature and Science: From the Scientific Revolution to "Brave New World" and Beyond by ISBN: 9781137456786Publication Date: 2015Study of the relationship between scientific progress and the concept of utopia in literature throughout the ages. E-book.
The Last Utopians: Four Late Nineteenth-Century Visionaries and Their Legacy by ISBN: 9781400889600Publication Date: 2018Examines the influence of Edward Bellamy, William Morris, Edward Carpenter, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman on the history of utopian thought. E-book.
Dystopian Fiction East and West: Terror and Trial by ISBN: 0773521798Publication Date: 2001Discusses dystopian fiction in the Western world and its relationship to totalitarianism. E-book.
Modern Utopian Fictions from H.G. Wells to Iris Murdoch by ISBN: 0813214777Publication Date: 2007Study of twentieth-century British utopian fiction. E-book.
Remainders of the American Century: Post-Apocalyptic Novels in the Age of US Decline by ISBN: 9780819580337Publication Date: 2021Work examining American post-apocalyptic literature as a reflection of a growing anxiety about the decline of US hegemony. E-book.
- Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature
Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature is a bibliography compiled by the Modern Humanities Research Association. ABELL lists monographs, periodical articles, critical editions of literary works, book reviews, collections of essays, and doctoral dissertations.
- JSTOR
Provides searchable full-text of historical runs of important scholarly journals in the humanities, arts, sciences, ecology, and business.
- MLA International Bibliography
The MLA Bibliography indexes material in modern languages, literature, linguistics, rhetoric and composition, folklore, and film.
- Oxford Bibliographies Online
Authoritative research guides across a variety of subject areas developed cooperatively with scholars and librarians. Combines the features of an annotated bibliography and an encyclopedia.
- Oxford Research Encyclopedias
Access to peer-reviewed research articles across a range of disciplines.
- PhilPapers
PhilPapers is a comprehensive index and bibliography of philosophy maintained by the community of philosophers.
- Sociological Abstracts
Abstracts to journal articles and citations to book reviews in the international literature of sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Includes abstracting and indexing of articles and book reviews drawn from thousands of serials publications, plus books, book chapters, dissertations, conference papers, and working papers.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Authoritative general encyclopedia of philosophy. All articles contain an extensive bibliography (non-annotated).