Utopia, Dystopia And Ecotopia In Romesh Gunesekera’s Heaven’s Edge

Abstract

Utopia’ is an imaginary place or state of things in which everything is perfect. A perfect society in which everything works and everyone is happy – or at least is supposed to be. Utopias are very common in fiction, especially in science fiction, where authors use them to explore what a perfect society would look like and what the problems might be in such a flawless society. On the other hand, ‘Dystopia’ means an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. In a dystopian world, we could also find there is a great suffering or injustice, typically one that is totalitarian or post-apocalyptic. It is the opposite of utopia. Both of these societies are imaginary. An ecotopia is a place or state which is utopian from an ecological perspective. Both utopian and dystopia share the characteristics of science fiction and speculative fiction which are usually set in a future, that explores social and political structures.