Literackie dystopie początku XXI wieku – między realizmem a fantastycznością: Nie opuszczaj mnie Kazuo Ishiguro, Trylogia Igrzyska śmierci Suzanne Collins i Księga Dziwnych Nowych Rzeczy Michela Fabera

Abstract

The article examines the relationship between the categories of “reality” and “fantasy” using Zygmunt Bauman's theory of “retrotopia”. To illustrate the presence of these concepts in selected dystopian texts from the early twenty-first century speculative fiction, the author refers to the works of Kazuo Ishiguro (Never Let Me Go), Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) and Michel Faber (Book of Strange New Things). The analysis also refers to the concepts such as “dark ecology” (Timothy Morton), “artificial nature” (Gernot Böhme) and the notion of identity as figure that creates its connections with the theory of retrotopia. The etymology of the word “retrotopia” indicates its relationship with the terms “utopia” and “retro style,” which also affects the interpretation. Characterized by a sense of nostalgia and a desire to return to the state of human communication with nature, retrotopia also reflects new social divisions and the departure from democratic ideas in small communities (tribes). It is argued that dystopian plot conventions help to express the last feature of retrotopia, namely, the criticism of the condition of a modern society.