Jonathan Swift's "Gulliver's Travels". Dystopian or Utopian Literature? (PDF)

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 2,0, Ruhr-University of Bochum (Englisches Seminar), course: Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels, language: English, abstract: When dealing with utopian literature one always comes across Thomas More who founded the neologism 'Utopia' in 1516. His Work De optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia is about an island that is excluded from its surroundings and has a full self-supply. It is considered to be the pioneer of utopian literature as genre. The term 'Utopia' derived from Greek ou-topos and means "no place" or eu-topos "good place". This genre generally offers an idealized state where harmony and entire satisfaction are omnipresent, which is considered to represent a counter-image of the historical reality of the author's times. Utopia represents a moral land which can never exist in the real world. In this way utopian places reflect wishes of the authors which can never come true - or at least only years later. To name but a few are the realization of democracy and human rights, improved medical care or nature conversation.
Unlike utopias, dystopias from Greek dys- ('bad') tópos ('place') often refer to totalitarian societies and restricted personal freedom. They appeared in the 19th century and their number increased strongly during the last hundred years. Dystopias critically reflect social imbalances and the lack of essential and personal liberty.
As an example of ideal concepts of a society, the paper will discuss utopian elements in Gulliver's Travels, which will be compared with dystopian elements that refer to worse societies with social disparities and injustices. Hence, the question whether Gulliver's Travels is more utopian or dystopian will be answered. The first part will have a focus on the country and the Houyhnhnms. The second part will analyze the other inhabitants - the Yahoos and how they fit into the island.