The Utopian Novel in America, 1886-1896: The Politics of Form

TLDR

The late nineteenth‑century United States experienced rapid urbanization, immigration, slum growth, unemployment, and expanding foreign influence, which fostered a surge of utopian fiction following Edward Bellamy’s 1888 novel. Pfaelzer investigates how utopian novels shaped American literature by analyzing their narrative structures and ideological impact. Her analysis identifies progressive, pastoral, feminist, and apocalyptic utopias, and notes that the genre’s parodic counterpart is the dystopia.

Abstract

In the late 1800s, Americans flocked to cities, immigration, slums, and unemployment burgeoned, and America's role in foreign affairs grew. This period also spawned a number of fictional glimpses into the future. After the publication of Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward in 1888, there was an outpouring of utopian fantasy, many of which promoted socialism, while others presented refined versions of capitalism. Jean Pfaelzer's study traces the impact of the utopian novel and the narrative structures of these sentimental romances. She discusses progressive, pastoral, feminist, and apocalyptic utopias, as well as the genre's parodic counterpart, the dystopia.