Utopia / dystopia

What elements make a dystopia ?

20/10/2022

I. Definitions
A utopia is place where everything is perfect, nobody has problems. It is like
paradise / heaven → it is a paradisiacal place where people live in
harmony, they like each other, they are joyful, it is a peaceful place.
Everybody is equal. It’s idyllic. Love, respect, peace … prevail.

A dystopian world is a place which is apocalyptic, awful, nightmarish.

There can be wars, slavery, death. People are unequal, not free and they
can be watched. It’s like hell.

hell =/= paradise, heaven

nightmare (n.) → nightmarish (adj.)

Doc / A world on red alert ?

Pict. 1
A homeless man is begging for likes instead of money of food. He is a
beggar who prefers popularity (likes) to survival (food and money).
Pict. 2
People looking like zombies walking towards a lake. They are staring at their
mobile phones and don’t even notice they may drown. They are
manipulated by the man sitting on the submarine = the CEO (Chief
Executive Officer) of Facebook (the flute which is the blue F of facebook). He
is casting a spell on them. They are mesmerised / fascinated / captivated.
They don’t even realise they are in danger, they are not aware of the
danger.

Both authors want to denounce the importance of social media, people are
addicted to soc.med. and don’t realise it.

24/11/2022

Common themes in dystopias

All authors try to warn us against the future world, they try to make people
realise it’s dangerous / to make them aware of the dangers.

Photo
In the background, we can see helicopters which look tiny whereas in the
foreground the camera seems to be huge.
 It is a very clean, perfect city yet there are no citizens, the atmosphere is a
bit scary, weird, strange. Maybe the citizens are afraid to go out, they don’t
dare or they have been ordered to stay home. The police may want them to
stay home to keep them safe (anti terrorism)

II. Surveillance & technology

1984

Video

→ The crowd:
Lots of people gathered in a room: a rally – they are watching a propaganda
video. They all look alike (same clothes, rather skinny)When the video
shows fields, they are calm but when it shows violence, they start yelling.
They become outraged, very angry and shout ‘death’ and ‘traitor’.
Their behaviour is weird, as if they were manipulated / brainwashed.

→ People
uniforms, skinny, poor (?), nameless, exhausted, depressed

→ City
a post-apocalyptic world, everything has been destroyed, it is derelict =
tumbledown, it is bleak / dismal.

→ Flat / Apartment
Everything is grey / almost empty but there is a huge TV = propaganda video
The man seems to be sick, he isn’t listening to the programme.

→ His job
His job consists in re-writing history: he changes information in newspapers:
censorship.

01/12/2022

Extract from 1984

1. This is an apocalyptic world that is very weird / odd where everything is

under surveillance. It is cold and colourless, lifeless.

2. People are under surveillance all the time, they use cameras, the
telescreen which are technological devices → they use technology in order
to / so as to watch people. The telescreen is very practical / convenient
 since it makes it possible to broadcast propaganda as well as watch and hear
people when they are at home.

3. They can’t use electricity in daylight hours because of the electricity cuts.
They can’t turn the telescreen off consequently they mustn’t speak their
mind / say what they think / criticise the government.

RAPPEL MODAUX

can – could – may – might – must – shall – should – will – would

ils permettent d’exprimer soit un degré de probabilité soit une interdiction /

autorisation / conseil / suggestion / futur

Les modaux sont des AUXILIAIRES :

→ forme négative : ‘not’ se met sur le modal : You can’t leave now !
→ forme interrogative : le modal se met avant le nom (ASV) May I
smoke ?

Pronom / nom + MODAL + VB → JAMAIS 2 MODAUX A LA SUITE

Si besoin d’exprimer au futur …

→ l’obligation : be have to : Next year, you will have to move to Berlin.
→ l’autorisation : be allowed to : At 18, she will be allowed to vote.

4. Big brother evokes family, siblings, someone you expect to protect you yet
here it represents / embodies the state that watches everybody. This is
paradoxical.
Winston Smith → Winston evokes W. Churchill, the great British Prime
Minister during WWII and Mr Smith which is a very common name.

// Photo A nation under CCTV

In both documents : lots of surveillance / cameras and empty streets
Yet, in the photo, it is clean whereas in the text it is dirty and tumbledown

// Animal Farm
The control of people
The use of propaganda
Changing and rewriting history

Doc/Press article Why is George Orwell 1984 a best seller again?

HW :
08/12/2022

It is an authoritarian / totalitarian regime = a dictatorship.

They control the language in order to limit freedom of thought.

The novel is both ‘prophetic’ and ‘ nightmarish’ because it predicts the

current reality of the USA.

As well as a lie about the crowd attending his inauguration described as an

‘alternative fact’

III Surveillance & control

The Hunger Games

Video

There is a sharp contrast between the poor and the people of the gvt.
Everything is sad, grey colourless except for the lady of the gvt.
People from district 12 are starving that they have to hunt to survive.
The village is tumbledown, muddy, dirty.
They use technology to control the people: cameras everywhere, a huge
futuristic plane, an electronic needle to check people’s identity.
They also use a propaganda film (just like in 1984 the film) to convince
people that they HG exist to remind the inhabitants of the districts of the
generosity and forgiveness of the gvt → this is manipulation.
Just as in 1984, there are electricity cuts (that’s why Katniss can go through
the electrified fence)