2006 Fall – RHE 309K: The Rhetoric of Nowhere
We are at heart so profoundly anarchistic that the only form of state we can imagine living in is Utopian; and so cynical that the only Utopia we can believe in is authoritarian.
Lionel Trilling
Not in Utopia,—subterranean Fields,—
Or some secreted Island, Heaven knows where!
But in the very world, which is the world
Of all of us,—the place where in the end
We find our happiness, or not at all!
William Wordsworth
There is an interesting paradox associated with utopian texts: while these texts are generally concerned with people and places that do not exist (“utopia” literally means “nowhere”), they are often intended to influence real changes in society. By examining the rhetoric of utopian texts and their function as public discourse, this course will question the drive that leads to the creation of fictional utopias and study the effects of those works “in the very world” in which we live.
Accordingly, the assumption of the course will be that, though all of the documents we examine are literally about fictional societies and places, they are also rhetorical texts, that is, they are designed to effect some change on an actual audience. Some questions we will ask are: What argumentative advantages/disadvantages does the utopian form offer its author? What views of human nature are appealed to by utopias (or dystopias)? Would all utopias be perceived in the same way by all readers (for example, would some readers disagree over whether a text depicts an utopia or dystopia)? Are the same societies depicted in contrary ways by different authors? How are rhetorical strategies used differently in utopias that are meant as a critique of society vs. those that are intended as blueprints for the future? What role does utopian rhetoric play modern political debates?
By asking questions like these, students will be encouraged to treat the texts as part of a public dialogue about social change. To that end, they will write three major papers, crafting original arguments based on their rhetorical analysis of the course readings.
