Utopian and Dystopian Writing for Children and Young Adults (review)

In this volume, there are fourteen essays considing texts as utopian/dystopian, ranging from Sarah Fielding's The Governess, or Little Female Academy (1749) to Lois Lowry's The Giver (1993), so we see immediately that this is not just for science fiction readers but is especially for scholars of children's literature. It is a potpourri of offerings; the editors deliberately have invited not just critics of utopian literature but writers as well, including brief pieces by children's writers James Gurney, Katherine Paterson, and Monica Hughes. Additionally, there is the editors' introduction, which attempts to describe rather than define utopian/dystopian literature; in the preface, Jack Zipes offers thoughtful comments such as, "Without discontent there is no utopia," and suggests that all artistic creation has a "utopian tendency" to reshape our current society (ix, x); Lois Lowry, during an interview with the editors, gives insights into her vision of dystopia; a valuable annotated bibliography lists "books that elaborate on the social formation of a utopian/dystopian community, and which propose to teach young readers about governance" (200); and a brief afterword by Lyman Tower Sargent surmises the importance of this collection as it expands his own earlier bibliography of adult utopian writings that had excluded children's and young adult literature.

In the afterword, Sargent points out that "[t]he authors and editors use [the word "utopia"] in quite a few different ways, some mutually exclusive, and there are texts included that do not fit any definition of utopia that I know" (232). This can be a problem, of course, if the fundamental issue of the collection cannot be discerned, but it can also offer an enlightening and challenging discussion as each essay redefines what utopia is. Hintz and Ostrey admit to the slippery definition of utopia, though they state that the term "signif[ies] a nonexistent society that is posited as significantly better than that of the reader. It strives toward perfection, has a delineated social system, and is described in reasonably specific detail" (3). They stress that the "awareness of social organization . . . is necessary for a work to be called utopian" (4); this criterion does much to delineate a utopian place from simple wish-fulfillment and in fact closes boundaries on utopia in a way that not all the essay writers adhere to—and why should they? As with Thomas More's oft-quoted description of utopia as both "no place" and yet the ideal place, so this diverse collection of essays covers broad ground while also attempting to focus on particular aspects. The editors admit to a two-pronged effort at describing a utopia: either as a pastoral Eden of uncorrupted childhood, or as a human-constructed society that is fair to everyone. Still, the editors adhere to a common descriptor of social reform, and some of the essays do not always address this in a convincing manner.

Although in the foreword Zipes maintains that "[i]t would be misleading to argue that every story written for children is utopian . . ." (ix), Hintz and Ostrey state in the Introduction, "The history of children's and young adult literature is entwined with that of utopian writing" (1). Sargent states that this book "raises as many questions as it answers, which is good" (233). I agree. While boundaries are discussed, they are not set in stone, and both comparisons and contrasts are explored between such issues as children's versus young adult literature, utopia versus dystopia, and individualism versus conformity—or, better yet, "At what point does utopian cooperation become dystopian conformity?" (7). This last question shows utopia and dystopia becoming points on a spectrum, rather than opposites, and this is perhaps the best way to perceive such false binaries. In similar fashion, they assert that because of the prevalent Romanticized views of Western childhood, ". . . utopias predominate in children's literature, whereas dystopias are far more common in young adult literature. . . . Indeed, dystopia can act as a...