The chapter of our Research Fellow Zsolt Cziganyik discusses the origins of the genre of dystopia, its relationship to utopia and anti-utopia, and the role of interpretation in the definition of the genre.

After a brief discussion of earlier (mainly 19th century) examples, Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four is analyzed in detail as a book of key importance. Orwell’s legacy is continued in the works of Anthony Burgess, whereas in contemporary popular culture dystopia plays a principal role both in writing and on the screen.

The chapter was published in the sixth volume of The History of English Literature, which is the first presentation in Hungarian of the English literature from 1930 to the present day.

Learn more about the book (in Hungarian) here.