More about More!
Ever since Thomas More published Utopia, he certainly and most probably unwittingly introduced a completely new genre. A science fiction genre which seeks to create, visualize and imagine idealistic worlds. Inspired by the Greek words Ou-topos (meaning no place) and Eu-topos (meaning good place) Thomas More playfully dubbed the word “Utopia” as title for, in his words “A little, true book, both beneficial and enjoyable, about how things should be…” (More, 1516).
More’s work originally consisted of two books. The first “Dialogue of Counsel” revolves around a conversations between Thomas More and the fictional persona Raphael Hythloday (the last name meaning “expert in nonsense” in Greek). Raphael is characterized as both an adventurous traveler and genius intellectual whom supposedly was one of the twenty four men on Vespucci Amerigo’s[1] voyage to the “New World”. Through conversation with Raphael and other noblemen (among other Peter Gillis) the book reflects the current state of (political) affairs in the prevailing monarchies of Europe. Moreover, it portraits the flaws, inequalities and downsides of the governments and nations at the time, in particular in England, More’s homeland.
The second book “Discourse on Utopia” elaborates on Raphael’s observations during his 5 year stay in the island Utopia located somewhere along the coast of the “New World”. Hence how these observations provide an alternative imaginary world for the imperfect European societies in the 16th century. His representation of Utopia as briefly captured in the intro above, illustrates an idealistic and near perfect society.
Well, let’s say, idealistic and near perfect in the beginning of the 16th century. More’s Utopia clearly reflects his zeitgeist, one of a decent Christian intellect in the 16th century. His envisioning of Utopia might have been progressive and far-fetched for Europe back then. Yet summarizing and applying his views in today’s society makes most part of the story seem rather medieval, orthodox, conservative and highly controversial. He sketched perfection through strict top-down governing, a thoroughly distributed and managed population, disciplined seemingly dictated lifestyles, obedience, sameness, clear gender distinguishedness, communal togetherness over privacy and slavery as a taken for granted commodity.
We can conclude that More’s description of Utopia is out of fashion, racist and unacceptable by now. But don’t forget that at the time More wrote Utopia he undisputedly introduced many new concepts and views in favor of society. In terms of equality, corruption, racism, amnesty, working conditions, and freedom More’s Utopia provided a substantial better world than reality was in those days. Therefore, don’t get me wrong, in not any way this text is written to accuse More’s thoughts.
As a matter of the fact, our current state of affairs and society have vastly surpassed More’s Utopia in many aspects but still we complain as much if not more about how an ideal world should or could be like – if we have not ruined it already (some might say)! And, in addition, let’s see how people 500 years from now judge and ridicule our current visions and utopias. Oh wait, that’s right, most of us are not interested or find it tiring to think too much about a future that lay far ahead of us 😉, I’ll come back to that later!
We can agree that More is rightfully credited to be the founding father of “utopianism” genre which seeks the create, visualize and imagine a complete new fictional and idealistic world. Ever since innumerable examples can be identified which find their roots back to More’s first so-called Utopia, more about this later.
More’s Utopia (also considering his position at the time) had a direct big impact in society and (as a butterfly-effect) affected our society, culture and mentality in the western worlds as they are.
More was most probably unaware of the long-lasting influence he would have with his story. Interestingly enough it is still under debate whether More’s Utopia was an attempt to promote or in contrast ridicule socialism. But whatever it may have been, his Socratic method of writing (by asking questions and let a “in this case fictional” other person tell the story) gave space to pose radical ideas and sparks one and another minds at the time without anybody having to defend themselves since it is ‘fiction’ after all. And be aware that being critical towards rulers in the 16th century was probably as dangerous as protesting against Kim Young-un on the central square of Pyongyang at this very moment.
Ever since Utopianism has become an effective and inspiring method which stimulates to think out of the box and without any limits envision and put forward political, technological, environmental and societal concerns. But most importantly, hundreds of years later the genre is perhaps more applicable than ever before due to the increasing awareness of global challenges. In all shapes and forms utopianism might just be the mindset younger generations need in other to think bigger and far beyond the minds of our current leaders.
Before providing an analysis of the exhaustive proliferation of More’s first dubbed Utopia in Utopianalysis. First I like to indulge you in a selection of various known and unknown utopian beliefs and manifestations. Starting with the next story in Ecotopia, 2121.
[1] Vespucci Amerigo was a ‘real’ and reputable sailor at the time. In fact, it is the very person America has been named after. Amerigo questioned Columbus who initially thought he sailed around the world to arrive on the other side of India, hence why indigenous people were called Indians. Vespucci Amerigo argued that the New World was an entirely new continent which appeared to be true hence why it is called after him.