Anti-utopian Mood, Liminality, and Literature. Irma Ratiani
method of achieving “Utopian dream” was an essential problem for Seneca, as well as the Christian world outline. From this point of view, R. C. Elliot should be quoted:
Utopia is the application of man’s reason and his will to the myth… Utopia (in the sense we are concerned with here) is man’s effort to work out imaginatively what happens – or what might happen – when the primal longings embodied in the myth confront the principle of reality. In this effort man no longer merely dreams of a divine state in some remote time; he assumes the role of creator himself. (Elliot 1970: 8–9)
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What is followed by such an experiment? Destruction – assumes Christian world outline differently from the classical understanding of Utopia adding the example of the first sin. According to the biblical text of first sin, humans did not justify God’s confidence: Tasting the tree of Knowledge of good and evil, the forbidden fruit, somewhat undertook the role of Demiurge, entering the functions of the creator and as a result they deserved God’s wrath: God damned Adam and Eve, leaving them without the happiness of eternal life, made them mortals and threw them out of the garden of Eden. “The Garden of Eden” can be identified with the “Golden Age”. Accordingly, the conclusion can be drawn out: “Ideal Happiness” is unachievable, and this is the prerogative of the Lord.
Christian ideology deepened and added content to the resistance between utopia and anti-utopia, when confronted the model of Caesar’s deprived and sinful kingdom with that of the heavenly paradise. In this regard, special attention should be paid to John, the Apostle’s “Revelation”, where the motifs of Babylon and Jerusalem are confronted. Babylon is cited as the example of the city of sins and Jerusalem as an example of the heavenly town. Unlike from Babylon, Jerusalem is the city of God, paradise on Earth, where God will always accompany the risen men: “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21: 4). https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+21%3A4&version=ESV
As one of the continuations and deepening of the concept of the “Revelation”, “The City of God” by Saint Augustine can be regarded, where the philosopher draws a boundary between religious aims those of the earthly goals. In “City of God” he clearly states his concern by the fact that people worry too much about the problems of the “Earthly City”, which in the understanding of the bishop of Hippo Regius, will result in the separation of humans from “City of God”. Saint Augustine is sure that the only mission of humans during life is to purify themselves from sins, because the only “real life” is in heaven. The end of the earthly pilgrimage is Doomsday, day, which will free the worthy ones from the shackles of the “Earthly City” and will shift to “The City of God”, where St. Augustine suggests, that after this day alterations will occur by the destruction of old mankind, and humans will have angel-like lives (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/45304/45304-h/45304-h.htm)
The deep theological modification of this issue can be seen in the text of “The Wisdom of Balahvar”:
Your deeds excel the nature of mortal man, 0 blessed king; for like some disembodied being you withstood the invisible foe in those impassable desert places. You made haste ←28 | 29→like a deer towards the well-spring and wandered from place to place, 0, blessed one, seeking for your good teacher Balahvar; and when you had found him, you glorified God. In place of transitory kingship, O blessed one, you chose the glory which is permanent and unending, and you rejoice in unspeakable and eternal happiness. (The Wisdom… 1960: 233)
The negative text clearly has a coordinating function here: Heavenly paradise or the positive texts are achieved not only through the confrontation with the negative text, but through victory over it. The pathos of the Christian world outlook in connection with reality can be seen as an active anti-utopia.
The increase of general activity in the attitude toward anti-utopia can clearly be seen in the Middle Ages. Here, first of all, the “Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli should be highlighted, then comes “Leviathan” by Thomas Hobbes, “Fable of the Bees” by Bernard Mandeville, and “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift.
The anti-utopian motifs found ties on the one hand with the political and economic processes of medieval Europe, and on the other – the dogmatism of the Church and the scientific tendencies that were beginning to develop. The “Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli should be mentioned in this context. What is important for us in this case is that Machiavelli based on the real grounds, with his argumentative and practical discussions confronted Utopia, which was so widespread and popular in his day:
For many have pictured republics and principalities which in fact have never been known or seen, writes Machiavelli, – because how one lives is so far distant from how one ought to live, that he who neglects what is done for what ought to be done, sooner effects his ruin than his preservation; for a man who wishes to act entirely up to his professions of virtue soon meets with what destroys him among so much that is evil
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1232/1232-h/1232-h.htm
This interesting aspect of Machiavellianism could be stated thus: utopia does not exist; we should free ourselves from vain dreams and fantasies, stand solidly on the ground and see the filthiness of the world! The only solution that Machiavelli sees in this demoralized condition is a strong leader, “Half man and Half Beast”, who if necessary, by using all means, will achieve all aims. A tyrant will awaken the people from dreams and will create a strong state, where aims are justified.
The significant anti-utopist mood of Machiavellianism is directed against any naive illusion, excluding any practical possibility of achieving utopia in real life and sees a strong state, governor and law as a basis of human happiness. In other words, Machiavellianism is an analytical study research of real humans and the real world. The utopian paradigm of the Middle Ages: non-existing place – ideal social structure – happiness is confronted by Machiavelli: real place – strong ←29 | 30→social structure – tyranny – normal life. Despite the sharp anti-utopian attitude, the “Prince” by Niccolò Machiavelli cannot be regarded as a complete, formed type of as anti-utopian text, because of one important condition: Machiavelli justified dictatorship and neglected the care for humans in the terms of dictatorship. He left open this issue for the future generation.
The “Leviathan” by Thomas Hobbes can be regarded as an interesting manifestation of anti-utopian thinking, where the English philosopher and thinker of the 16th century developed a manifesto of how society should be organized and compared it with the archetype of Leviathan, the biblical monster. Total skepticism toward utopia is clearly shown in this work by Hobbes. What is more, Hobbes saw the idea of equality, which is one of the cornerstones of utopian understanding, as a hindrance and disaster in the human society. According to Hobbes, out of the equality of possibilities, the equality of hopes appears in achieving the goal. Therefore, two people, who want one and the same thing, but is clear that both will not acquire the same thing, become rivals (See Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan. Penguin Books, 1981). So, where does the solution lie? In strong governance – declares Hobbes.
Bernard Mandeville’s “Fable of the Bees”, an allegorical satire about the voluntary turnover of ideal society proved as a continuation of Hobbes realistic anti-utopia. But the tendency of anti-utopia as a special literary unit is powerful in “Gulliver’s Travels” by Jonathan Swift.
The theme of voyage and the motif of discovering “new lands”, as an object of satire, clearly shows the sceptic and cynic attitude of the author toward the ideals and themes, with which the utopian works were soaked. Did the utopist call for travel? Gulliver went on a journey. Did the utopist strive to discover “ideal place”, that is “far away”? Gulliver approached unknown lands – the world of Lilliput, Brobdingnag and Glubbdubdrib. And what does Gulliver discover there? He finds out that utopian island, countries and states are just vain dreams