How Dystopian Fiction Shapes Political Attitudes
Interesting.<p><i>&quot;In the totalitarian-dystopian genre, the prototypical narrative content elements — e.g., setting, character, plot, and story morals — are relatively clear and consistent; thus, they are “filled in” according to widely shared genre conventions.&quot;</i><p>Writers can thus write in such worlds without extensive world-building. It&#x27;s like grinding out police procedurals or zombie novels. Not every writer can build worlds like Charles Stross. It&#x27;s also easier for readers. Reading Ian Banks is hard work.<p>More generally, we have a decided lack of novels describing a better future. We have no shared conceptual model of what a better future should look like.  We did once, up to 1970 or so.  To a considerable extent, futurism is still stuck in the 1960s. What passes for futurism today is a minor tweak on the present.<p><i>(&quot;Futures: 1) Utopia 2) Dystopia 3) the future in which your cell phone takes slightly better pictures.&quot;)</i>