小说与文学2014wired.com
反乌托邦小说的流行，是对未来的一个警示信号
Dystopian Fiction’s Popularity Is a Warning Sign for the Future
导读
这篇 Wired 文章认为反乌托邦小说的流行是对未来的警告信号。值得写作者读，因为它涉及文学如何反映时代焦虑，以及“预言式写作”如何避免简单归因、如何面对现实而非只描绘未来。
可以直接用的写作要点
- 01
写反乌托邦或预言性作品时，要区分“时代焦虑”与真实趋势，别把流行题材简单当作未来警告。
- 02
引用经典作品作参照时注意时间跨度——很多反乌托邦经典已是几十年前的作品，说明主题具有持续性而非新现象。
- 03
写作应直面当下已经存在的“反乌托邦”现实，而不是只描绘未来、回避眼前的苦难。
- 04
涉及政治、生态等因果论断时要谨慎，避免把复杂问题草率地归因于单一因素。
HN 评论精选
反乌托邦题材并非新潮流，经典作品多为旧作，其流行更多反映当下时代焦虑。
首先，有证据表明反乌托邦小说确实明显更受欢迎吗？我喜欢的文学和电影中的反乌托邦作品大多已有几十年历史，这并非什么新鲜事。其次，我成长于70年代末、80年代初，当时核浩劫是“不可避免的”反乌托邦未来小说的主题。我不认为这说明了什么，不过是当时的时代焦虑。
santacluster查看英文原文
First, is there any evidence dystopian fiction is actually significantly more popular? Most of my favorite dystopian fiction in literature and cinema is many decades old. It's not exactly a new thing. Second, I grew up in the early late 70's / early 80's, when the nuclear holocaust was the theme of the "inevitable" dystopian future fiction. I don't think it signifies anything other than the angst du jour.
对“资本主义导致生态灾难”的因果论断表示质疑，提醒写作者警惕草率归因。
Naomi Klein 把资本主义与生态灾难联系起来，这种关联充其量是牵强的。社会主义社会的环境记录更糟。
normand1查看英文原文
Naomi Klein's link between capitalism and ecological disaster is spurious at best. Socialist societies have an even worse record http://thefederalist.com/2014/01/13/if-you-think-communism-is-bad-for-people-check-out-what-it-did-to-the-environment/
用经典反乌托邦电影举例，说明这些主题早已被反复书写。
也许 Naomi Klein 可以用一些老经典电影来清理思绪：比如《Soylent Green》（人口过剩，1973），或《Silent Running》（气候崩溃，1972）？或者更乐观一点的《Logan's Run》（人口过剩加气候崩溃，1976）？
joezydeco查看英文原文
Maybe Naomi Klein can clear her mind with some old classic films: How about Soylent Green (overpopulation, 1973), or Silent Running (climate collapse, 1972)? Maybe something more upbeat like Logan's Run (overpopulation AND climate collapse, 1976)?
批评文章回避现实——许多人当下已生活在反乌托邦中，写作不应只警告未来而忽视眼前的苦难。
文章预设的读者被自己的观念框住了。福岛摄影师受到震动，未必是对技术乌托邦失去信仰——西方人忘了那是一场巨大的地震海啸，看到上万具漂浮的尸体、闻到气味、土地像月球表面，这本身就更令人不安。作者希望人们相信我们能做到“不像这样残暴地应对灾难”，但回到1700年代的化石燃料消费意味着要杀死所有1700年代的人口。她还回避讨论多少人此刻已经生活在反乌托邦中：警察先开枪后问话地枪杀黑人、从小被灌输美国梦却背上一辈子债务、没有医疗和金融保障……
VLM查看英文原文
The implied audience is hemmed in by their own memes. Fukushima photographer is shaken up, must be loss of belief in techno utopia. Nah, westerners forget it was a massive earthquake tsunami, so probably seeing ten thousand floating dead bodies and the smell and the land looking like the surface of the moon was a bit more disturbing, at least if he's human. "actually convincing people that we’re capable of something other than this brutal response to disaster." I sincerely hope they are not, because the only way we're going back to 1700s era fossil fuel consumption in our lifetime is by killing all the population over 1700s era, which is quite a mass murder. So I'm glad of that. Also a nameless homeless family living under an overpass due to economic disruption is a small price to pay to feel ecologically superior. There's someone starving to death in TX but at least I got a cool new Prius... just human lives, ones that don't count anyway. You know, like a dystopia... Careful avoidance of discussing how many people are already living the Dystopia, right now. Cops shoot black men first ask questions later, at least the few we let walk the streets instead of imprisoning. Indoctrinated since birth to live the American dream while getting a lifetime of debt, LOL just kidding about that "you'll have a great paying job" thing, but its all your fault for not wanting it more than the "successful" guy, who we're going to downsize next month anyway. No medical care, no financial future, no education. If it bleeds it leads, on the agitprop news, our whole city is a Roman Colosseum of martyrs. Dude born on 3rd base thinks he hit a home run says, hey, let them eat cake, why won't they pull themselves up by their bootstraps, its the land of opportunity for rich urban white men... the rest of you don't exist, aren't even people, mere consumers at best. Dystopian fiction is a politically correct way to talk about the PRESENT, not the future.
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