TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2017//
TI  - Dystopian narratives: encounters with the perverse sadomasochistic universe
JO  - Psychoanalytic inquiry
A1  - Loewenstein, Era A.
SP  - 3
EP  - 15
VL  - 37
IS  - 1
N2  - In a number of dystopian novels that I explore, including Orwell's (1949) 1984 and Huxley's (1932) Brave New World, I identify themes of soul murder, destruction of differences, murder of reality, and attacks on the parental couple as a generative twosome. In my view, dystopian fiction captures, thus, many facets of the perverse sadomasochistic core. I demonstrate that the leaders of dystopian societies are fueled by a desire to debase and eventually eliminate the feeding mother, the Oedipal father, and the creative parental couple by becoming god-like creators of a new and idealized fecal universe. Although dystopian narratives tend to locate the catastrophe in a future social disaster, they represent a psychological breakdown that has already occurred in the past and is, therefore, present in the individual's internal world. The dystopian narrative enables this internal catastrophe to be projected into a future plot and a cast of characters that stand for both victims and perpetrators in the internal object world. I offer a psychoanalytic perspective, which can help our understanding of the increasing popularity of dystopian fiction among the young adult readership.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0735-1690
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07351690.2017.1250585
ID  - ref1
ER  -