Dystopia Land discussion

I recently joined a Dystopian group on Facebook, and it's kind of turned on my head what I'd always thought about dystopian books. For me it was always about dark political situations which were thoughtful and deep. Yet since joining the aforementioned group I've been inundated by posts about zombies, and pretty much nothing else.

I hate zombies. I think the whole concept of zombies and zombie fiction is cliqued and its rare that I see anything original. I liked 28 Days Later and also Shaun of the Dead, but other than Night of the Living Dead there is no reason to watch any other zombie movie, because they're all the same.

And, they're um, horror...? Or so I thought. Okay, so you could argue that biotechnologically created zombies (such as in movies like Biohazard) can be part of a post-apoc world that could then be labelled dystopia, but I can't help feeling that zombie fiction writers are trying to hi-jack a genre that is currently on the cusp of its popularity.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. What are yours? Zombies: horror or dystopian?

Chris wrote: "I recently joined a Dystopian group on Facebook, and it's kind of turned on my head what I'd always thought about dystopian books. For me it was always about dark political situations which were th..."

My guess is horror or Post Apocalyptic. If you want to read something original and well done World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War is the ticket. Not the movie, but the book. I took a flier on it when it first went into paperback and I was stunned how well written it was. The movie, just terrible.

In my view that is just poaching. Zombies aren't dystopia. But dystopia is a zingy genre at the moment. Yeah, traditional zombies are horror. There may be a way to do zombies in a different way but I am utterly uninterested in trying. Ditto vampires.

Some post-apocalyptic stuff is dystopian. Some isn't. It depends on the focus. Dystopia is a focus on SOCIETY gone wrong. It doesn't have to be authoritarian but the focus of the story is on societal problems.

Experiment: They say that it isn't romance if you can take the love story out and still have a plot. I would say it isn't dystopia if you can take the socio-political problems out and still have a plot.

Anyone up for that definition?

Dystopia as a genre came to be as a counter-movement of the utopias where the state and society could work in an absolute synchronicity as a well oiled mechanism. Dystopias asked the following questions: what happens to an individual in a perfect mechanism? What happens when the perfect mechanism goes terribly wrong?

We should not confuse dystopia with post-apocalyptic fiction. A dystopian society may form in a post-apocalyptic world or an utopia society may deteriorate because of a cataclysmic event but overall the two are pretty distinct and have adequate outstanding representatives in the literary genre.

Arie wrote: "They say that it isn't romance if you can take the love story out and still have a plot. I would say it isn't dystopia if you can take the socio-political problems out and still have a plot. " Yeah, I'd agree with that definition Arie!

I'm more interested in social/political dystopias too. I'm really enjoying the Divergent series because of the ideas about genetic engineering and human character, and the disaster that can ensue when you tamper with it. I'm not much into zombies but I have to admit the "In the Flesh" TV series is an exception. It's heads and tails above normal zombie fare.

Beverly,

maybe it's best to add spoiler tags in your comment about Divergent for those who haven't read it yet.

Btw: I'm not that big a fan of Zombies either ;-)

That's not much of a spoiler about Divergent. Kind of like saying LOTR has elves in it.

Haha true, up to a point. But if you're at the beginning of book 1, you won't know that. Anyway, it's not a big deal. I was just thinking out loud;-).

Okay, I guess Tolkien does mention elves early on just in passing. :D Good to be careful of spoilers though.

I don't think zombies are dystopia at all. They're apocalypse or post-apocalypse. Dystopia has to do with a society that's oppressive, unpleasant, etc. not with natural or biological disasters.

I think one important aspect that the zombie books are lacking is that mirror-factor that was implanted in the genre-making films of Romero...it is a satire - a grotesque look at what consumerism brings us to. In that way, that is a dystopia or more like a mockumentary of our lives in pursuit of the next material possession that will define the meaning of our life.

Vardan wrote: "Dystopias asked the following questions: what happens to an individual in a perfect mechanism? What happens when the perfect mechanism goes terribly wrong?"

I agree. And a world with zombies in no way pretends to be a perfect mechanism. As soon as zombies are introduced, I think it's pretty obvious that something is wrong. There is no pretension of perfection anymore.

I think the two genres get a little mixed up, but I agree: zombies is not dystopian.

I don't know that all dystopia is about a "perfect mechanism". the Handmaid's Tale has got some obviously problematic stuff going on in the society. No real pretense of perfection but it is about the socio-political problems and the effects on the individual. that's where I see the common thread.

It depends what the remaining people would do in a zombie apocalypse.. Technically I think their would probably be little to no government in a completely zombie infested world. But in a general sense dude nothing much can be good in a zombie world right? It must be bad most of the time.
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In regards to the title question "Since when did dystopia become all about zombies?" All I have to say is:
Don't tell me Hunger Games just got zombies! XD If it does don't tell me! I haven't read mockingjay! ;) No spoilers man! ;)

Anna wrote: "Don't tell me Hunger Games just got zombies! "

Heaven forbid! ;D

Arie wrote: "I don't know that all dystopia is about a "perfect mechanism". the Handmaid's Tale has got some obviously problematic stuff going on in the society. No real pretense of perfection but it is about t..."

In the Handmaid's Tale, there is the notion of Gilead as a smoothly running mechanism down to the uniforms for the Commanders, the tokens, the red dresses for the Handmaids, Blue for Wives and something or other for the Marthas... a despotic and problematic society but one that thinks that their system is beyond reproach.

Most zombie stories seem to emphasize a small cast of characters and a limited period of time. Most dystopian literature features a broader scale and delves into societal conflict and the social contract from a more lofty perspective.

Sean wrote: "Most zombie stories seem to emphasize a small cast of characters and a limited period of time. Most dystopian literature features a broader scale and delves into societal conflict and the social co..."

The sense of claustrophobia and the sense of being locked in (supermarket, shelter, city, apartment etc.) is indeed prevalent in the canon works of the zombie genre. At the same time, in the works such as 1984, we do not have a large cast of character although did have a larger scale perspective on the world as is presented through the eyes of the narrator and through the propaganda machine of the Big Brother.

Yeah, well, every tyrant thinks their system is perfect, even when it is utter chaos, I suppose. Doesn't mean it doesn't look like utter chaos.