Field Notes - ENGL 817AJ - Utopia by Thomas More

I think my seminar presentation for More's Utopia (1516) in class went REALLY well. I focused on that previous quote from J.B. Harley (see last post) about deconstructing the map. I looked at both woodcut maps that came out with More's book in the 1500s and how and if they depicted on them the utopia and its people that he was writing about. I also found an article that compared Utopia to Eden and the Christian religious undertones present in Utopia even though it is supposed to be a depiction of a fantasy island that is somehow also supposed to be real. A bit confusing if you have not read the book.

The left image is the 1516 map and the right hand one is from 1518, made by Ambrosius Holbien.

There were a lot of things about the book that I noticed and drew comparisons with, but that could not be included in my seminar paper. Before I get into those, I'll start with a little bit of an overview of the book to start.

Book I is very philosophical about the goods and bads, and rights and wrongs of 16th C England, society and the monarchy. At first I didn't think this really had a lot to do with the focus of the class, but I was wrong. Especially after the focus I took with my seminar paper. There is also a lot in the dialogue of this part of the text about exploration of the New World and its cultures and laws. 

The dialogue in Book I is between Raphael, the explorer that comes back from Utopia, and Morus, the Englishman he is trying to convince that Utopia is so great. They start the conversation by discussing the punishment of thieves and murders, which then results in the explanation of Utopian society. Raphael gives extensive accounts of the Utopian's rules and how they would in turn apply to England or France. Basically, its a cleverly disguised treatise on how to make England a better place than it was.

Book II starts with the geography and physical description of the Utopian Island but then leads into the division of land, farming techniques, their societal responsibilities, military and political structure, and ends with the more internal revelations about their morality, philosophy and religious practices.

In a supplementary letter it is noted that the location of the island is conveniently missed in during the conversation with Raphael and neither Morus or Peter catches it. Obviously, the location was never to be ascertained because the island is not real, but the book is written to make the island believable to the readers of the 16th Century. I believe that More did not write about or try to make up a location for the island so to not upset the world-view prevalent during his time, but the book is still a tool to help bring about change that the humanists of the time wanted. Translated from Latin, Utopia means "no place" - so its basically a pun.

Bonus points for me in class though! I linked the mapping of the Utopian Island in More's book to the creation and blueprint of the utopian literary genre that came about as a result of the text. 

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I read More's Utopia when I was on holiday in Mexico and many of the things I noted and jotted down to put in the Field Notes were how Utopia was a lot like Star Trek. Sadly, I wasn't able to put these things into my seminar paper, but wouldn't that have been a fun read! It reminds me of Star Trek because of the exploration of uncharted space, and during the 16th C the Earth as a whole was becoming less and less a mystery due to expansive exploration of the New World and the oceans.

One particular quote stood out to me:

"For justice cannot exist where all the best things in life are held by the worst people; nor can anyone be happy where property is limited to a few, since even those few are always uneasy, and the many are utterly wretched."

I hope I am not the only who thinks that sounds a lot like Spock's: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one." Bueller? Bueller?

Another thing that is very Star Trekkie is the non-use of gold or silver in Utopian society. Yes, there are credits used for buying power within the federation but it is not the driving thing of their whole society. Everyone has food because of the matter synthesizers and careers in certain things such as service in the fleet is a lofty and ideal goal. To serve humanity, Earth and the Federation.

I do have to note thought that my husband, well versed in Star Trek and a big fan, did note that the Federation in Star Trek is very much like a cult too. They acquire other planets into the Federation, give them some autonomy but ultimately everything is subsumed under the Federations paradigm. Food for thought.

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Next field notes is going to be a combination of a few things like topographical poetry and academic articles focusing on mental mapping and using the map as an analytical instrument These are going to be read in advance of their times slots for the class so that I have more time to read Neverwhere (1996) for March. This weekend is going to busy with lots of reading to try and get ahead.