Аmbiguous Temporality of Utopia

The article rejects the reading of Thomas More's Utopia as, first, a statement of More's own views on the ideal state and, accordingly, his definition not only as a humanist, but as a communist, and, secondly, an attempt is made to present the humanistic foundations of his ideas and ways of expressing them. These ways of expression are connected with the tropological way of his thinking, expressed through satire and irony, with an eye to ancient examples, which was characteristic of the philosophy, poetics and politics of humanism, one of the tasks of which was to try to build a new society (especially relevant in the period of geographical discoveries), architecture, an unprecedented ratio of natural objects (archimboldeski). The models for "Utopia" were the works of Plato, Lucian, and Cicero. It is written in the spirit of the times, with criticism of state structures, private property, the distinction between the private and the public, and openness to all ideas. Intellectual disorientation of readers is a specific creative task of More writer, his test of their ability to quickly change the optics, to consider history as an alternative world, radically different from our own, but connected with it. Thanks to an extremely pronounced intellectual tension, it goes beyond the limits of time, like the works of Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Marx... Utopia can be represented as a dystopia, if we take into account the performative nature of the latter, which contributes to the instantaneous translation of words into action, realizing the world of utopia. Dystopia is the answer to utopia with a change of sign: about the same thing, changing the optics, you can say "yes" and "no". This means that in the modern world, indeed, and for a long time, virtual consciousness becomes little different from the real one, and imagination replaces the theoretical position, acquiring its form, turning theory into fiction. A hypothesis is put forward about the presence of many utopian countries in" Utopia": Achorians, Polylerites, Macarians, Anemolians.

Keywords

utopia, dystopia, philosophy, satire, irony, tropology, criticism, monotony

Received

27.09.2021

Publication date

28.09.2021

Number of characters

47132

Cite

GOST	Neretina S. Аmbiguous Temporality of Utopia // Chelovek – 2021. – V. 32. – Issue №4 C. 109-131 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://chelovek-journal.ru/S023620070016691-7-1 (circulation date: 06.05.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S023620070016690-6
MLA	Neretina, Svetlana "Аmbiguous Temporality of Utopia." Chelovek 32.4 (2021):109-131. DOI: 10.31857/S023620070016690-6
APA	Neretina S. (2021). Аmbiguous Temporality of Utopia. Chelovek 32(4), pp.109-131 DOI: 10.31857/S023620070016690-6

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