Metacritic Journal


for Comparative Studies and Theory

dystopia
ISSN 2457 – 8827
Andrew Bailey Andrew Bailey

Authority of the Worm: Examining Parasitism Within INSIDE and UPSTREAM COLOUR


Within science fiction the parasite has long provided a way to engage with bodily fears, however in recent years, our perceived relationship with these kinds of organisms have become increasingly cognitive and existential. Parasites that influence their host’s thoughts and behaviour such as the Cordyceps fungus have become favourite topics for nature documentaries and science podcasts. This familiarity has given rise to narratives that utilize the parasite as an allegory of control, authority, and free will....   ⇨ Read more
Anna Specchio Anna Specchio

Eutopizing the Dystopia. Gender Roles, Motherhood and Reproduction in Murata Sayaka’s SATSUJIN SHUSSAN


From the start of her career, contemporary Japanese writer Murata Sayaka has been writing novels that dismantle the existing politics of gender, family and sexuality through stories set in dystopian or surrealistic worlds. In Satsujin shussan (The Birth Murder) she depicts a society in which a person can kill another if s/he gives birth to other ten. Women are given a contraceptive implant at the time of their first menstruation, sex is conceived as an act of lust, and pregnancy occurs exclusively by assisted...   ⇨ Read more
Francesco Bacci Francesco Bacci

The Originality of THE HANDMAID'S TALE and THE CHILDREN OF MEN: Religion, Justice, and Feminism in Dystopian Fiction


This paper describes the theoretical challenges and the approach through which The Handmaid’s Tale and The Children of Men describe a world which is destroying itself in a society where human rights do not matter. The main objective is to discuss the role of women in these narrative universes. A space will also be created to consider how the female condition is perceived as a threat to a totalitarian society. In doing so, we will undertake this research with a multidisciplinary approach which takes into...   ⇨ Read more
Nkululeko Sibanda Nkululeko Sibanda

Utopian Places/ Spaces in Selected Bongani Sibanda’s Short Stories


The dire socio-political and economic landscape in Zimbabwe has forced many Zimbabweans, young and old, to relocate to various and different diasporic locations. When these diaspora-based Zimbabweans “visit” or literary represent their rural villages, disparate spatial metaphors emerge. Writing from Johannesburg, Bongani Sibanda ambivalently locates and dislocates his characters from the literary places and space he creates for them. Drawing on various utopian spatial theoretical perspectives, this article...   ⇨ Read more