I’d like to take another moment to reference Veronica Roth’s newsletter musings because she is very much someone I find worth listening to. In this instance, she was discussing her experiences with dystopian fiction (both in reading and writing it) and what seems to have become a consensus of the genre’s “worth” and / or “meaning” among modern readers. And what she was starting to hear in recent years confused her, and rightfully so.
See, the vibe she was getting from readers was that dystopian fiction is a series of instruction manuals telling us in the here and now what not to do in order to avoid catastrophe in the future. Ergo, what she was hearing specifically was that dystopian fiction has failed society—or, really, let’s be honest here, society has failed epically at heeding even the most obviously stated warnings of a looming dystopian nightmare. But while the latter is undoubtedly true, the former is an unjustified statement. Dystopian fiction, as Roth puts it, is not responsible for preventing or failing to prevent dystopia. Based on her own experiences both as an author as well as a reader, Roth argues that dystopian fiction is not meant to serve as a warning: it is a reflection of what is already happening.
When I was in college, one of my peers mentioned briefly during a discussion that, historically, dystopian fiction begins to arise in a society right before a dramatic shift in socio-political / socio-economical / socio-cultural dynamics. (I think his actual wording was akin to “an apocalyptic event,” but you get the idea). Going by the aforementioned modern readers’ logic, this would attribute dystopian writers to prophets and psychics—but the reality is something I myself have stated time and time again: creatives are proficient at examining the human condition. In other words, we see what is going on in real time, and we break it down into pieces that (we hope) readers will understand and connect with. We write dystopian fiction because we see a dystopia building, slowly but surely, all around us, and we use our stories to reflect, examine, and sometimes even heal from our experiences in living with that fact.
Truth is, if we ever actually succeeded in building a utopian society, the genre would probably cease to exist. I mean, let’s be honest (again): modern literature in a problem-free society would be exceptionally boring. Why write about discontent and conflict and loneliness and escapes into fantasy realms when everyone has a roof over their heads, food on their table, and access to therapy and expert medical care? Society would probably stop writing new books and simply go back to reading old ones, à la Captain Picard. (In a weird way, I am torn: Reasons to Write, or Star Trek-Like Utopian Paradise? Reasons to Write, or Star Trek-Like Utopian Paradise???)
Roth believes that dystopian fiction is not a How Not To guidebook, but a reflection of current society—and I wholeheartedly agree. I wholeheartedly agree because, as a storyteller myself, I have long been aware that all stories are a sign of their times. Myths arose because early peoples had a need and a desire to explain the world around them; romance novels arose because women finally found an outlet to express their own desires and needs and struggles in a world dominated by men; detective and true crime novels arose because some humans have an overwhelming and inexplicable urge to kill each other, and other humans have an overwhelming and inexplicable urge to hear every grisly detail.
And dystopian novels arose because, in spite of Star Trek’s influence on recent generations, the human race still keeps finding ways to claw its way backward in progress. And until we finally manage to freakin’ chill, there will continue to be endless inspiration for dystopian authors to draw from.
Night Owls, what genre do you primarily write? What does your genre say about the world you currently live in?
