ABSTRACT
Utopias and dystopias are imagined alternatives to the author's present, either presenting a positive or negative commentary on society. Utopianism encompasses the dreams and daydreams of the individual as well as the formal, fictionalized dream of the complete alternative; it expresses a longing or desire for an alternative. But utopias and dystopias are a particular, narrative expression of that longing or desire. This chapter surveys utopias and dystopia, including some of their sub-genres, and concentrating mostly on English-language literary utopias. Utopian fiction has been particularly important in the literary history of the United States, itself a country born from the imagination of another, possible world, and in which more science fiction and utopian literature appeared than in other countries, particularly during the genre's heyday in the 19th century. Two important subgenres of utopia are feminist utopias and ecotopias,.
