Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 
 

Files

File List

Full text release has been delayed at the author's request until August 04, 2026

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

Nineteenth-Century Nowhere: Mapping Utopian and Dystopian Rhetoric in Literature and Life Writing

Mason, Kelsey Paige
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9731-6022
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721123857203936

Abstract Details

2024, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, English.
As a topic of study, utopia is often broken into three aspects: utopian social theory, intentional communities, and literature. Thus, a study of utopia best suits an interdisciplinary approach. While utopian scholars have often accepted the invitation for diverse approaches, there is one unifying aspect of the three aspects of utopia yet considered. In this dissertation, I posit a theory of utopian and dystopian rhetoric which explains the affective, persuasive dimension of each of utopia’s aspects.

Although I propose a wider application of utopian and dystopian rhetoric, I narrow my focus in this dissertation to investigate the connections between utopianism and eugenics. I analyze how nineteenth-century eugenicists leverage utopian and dystopian rhetoric to promote eugenic practices and beliefs. I argue that the hierarchy of eugenics and utopia – the privileging of certain populations and rejection of others as being suited for the future – are assured and enforced through ideological and repressive state apparatuses.
Amanpal Garcha (Advisor)
Elizabeth Hewitt (Committee Member)
James Phelan (Committee Member)
525 p.
American Literature; British and Irish Literature; Literature
utopia; dystopia; utopianism; rhetoric; eugenics; nineteenth century; American; British; literature; fiction; intentional community

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mason, K. P. (2024). Nineteenth-Century Nowhere: Mapping Utopian and Dystopian Rhetoric in Literature and Life Writing [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721123857203936

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mason, Kelsey. Nineteenth-Century Nowhere: Mapping Utopian and Dystopian Rhetoric in Literature and Life Writing. 2024. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721123857203936.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mason, Kelsey. "Nineteenth-Century Nowhere: Mapping Utopian and Dystopian Rhetoric in Literature and Life Writing." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2024. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1721123857203936

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1721123857203936
© 2024, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.