How can the social effects of a pandemic be thought through with the concept of ‘utopia’ and ‘dystopia’?
Overwork, family and social stress, isolation, and a lack of work-life balance. These are just some of the consequences of the global Corona pandemic that have been affecting us humans in our everyday lives since 2020. But how can these consequences, implications and effects of a socio-material entity like “virus” be interpreted in terms of cultural, anthropological and literary theory and philosophy?
The aim of this small contribution is to show how the analytical perspectives on ‘utopia’ and ‘dystopia’ are fruitful approaches to analyze the narratives and discourses involved in speaking and thinking about these effects and the working powers of the Virus.
My point is not to focus on the health harms of people who suffered from corona, but to interpret the social organization of post-corona societies with a specific gaze.
Dystopia and Covid-19: Collective Feelings?
In order to be able to sharpen the term “dystopia”, it is necessary to distinguish it from the concert of ‘utopia’, by Thomas More (1516) meant a harmonious ideal state of the world and knowledge. If this circumstance is radically reversed, the dystopian reading can exaggerate human coexistence into a strongly asocial togetherness – a state of society that is frequently treated and usually criticized in fictional and artistic-aesthetic forms of expression (Pordzik 2002).
If one uses this concept of human coexistence and transfers it to the post-Corona situation in which we currently live, some ambivalences become clear: keeping one’s distance and wearing a mask is not a purely egoistic act, but is meant to protect ‘the other’ from society. Actors who do not take Corona seriously are therefore judged selfishness and a lack of sociality.
In addition, creative (digital) communication and interaction strategies were developed in the context of social distancing to strengthen social interaction. Nevertheless, due to a lack of resources and social connections, many fell into states of isolation that continue to have an impact today.
Even if the recovery of nature and the deceleration of capitalist structures could rather be described as a utopian moment, the social consequences of unpaid care work, burnout and work overload can be seen as a social dystopian model.
This is due to the fact that ideas of social coexistence and work in everyday life have been transformed after Corona: This is especially because economic dynamics and capitalist structures have merged even more with the social of our world after Corona.
Dystopian to utopian and back around? Conclusion and Outlook
This brief outline is intended to provide food for thought on how concepts that have endured for centuries, such as utopia and dystopia, can be used to interpret contemporary societies. I therefore combine fictional and literary theoretical perspectives with social, that is, empirical observations to analyze the narratives and discourses that make use of certain strategies. For only through this can we understand the complex reality of our life worlds.
Sources
George M. Logan, Robert M. Adams, Clarence H. Miller (Eds.): Thomas More: Utopia. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1995.
Ralph Pordzik: Utopie und Dystopie in den neuen englischen Literaturen. Winter, Heidelberg 2002.