Dystopian Literature explores the darkest facets of the human mind and human nature. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, a dystopia is "An imaginary place or condition in which everything is as bad as possible." The easiest way to think about Dystopian Literature and dystopias is to consider that a dystopia is often the result of a society's arranging its government and laws around good qualities for a perfect society, such as order, equality, and obedience, and taking those qualities to the absolute extreme. Dystopian Literature, while fiction, can also spookily echo our own past, present, and future. Dystopian Literature is one of the best genres to understand man's inhumanity to his fellow men.
This guide is a nearly comprehensive list of Dystopian Literature from the 18th century up to 2016, and is organized by decade and nationality of the author. This list includes everything from classic dystopian novels, such as Fahrenheit 451, to modern dystopian novels aimed at young adults, such as The Hunger Games series.
To understand this genre, you can read more about it in "Dystopia" from the New World Encyclopedia; "Fresh Hell" from The New Yorker; "Why Do We Like Dystopian Novels?" from Huffpost; or "Dystopia Literature Primer" from North Seattle Community College. For more lengthy discussions, we recommend Erika Gottlieb's Dystopian Fiction East and West (PN56 .D94 G67 2001).
To study dystopian literature, consider enrolling in Flagler College's English Program!
Our thanks are due to Kelsey White who interned with us in fall 2016 and created the first version of this help guide. Elements of her work have been carried over into this, the second, version of the Dystopian literature help guide. **We are happy to report that Kelsey has completed her Masters in Library Science!**