Imperfect Worlds and Dystopian Narratives in Contemporary Cinema

Artur Blaim, Professor of English and Chair of English Literature Department at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin; author of books and articles on English utopian fiction, desert island narratives, and cultural semiotics.Ludmiła Gruszewska-Blaim, Associate Professor of English and American Studies, University of Gdańsk; author and co-editor of books on 20th century poetry and prose, literary theory, fictional worlds in literature and cinema.

«This is an important collection of essays, the most important treatment thus far of the concept of dystopia in film even as it offers readings of a wide range of dystopian films. It has sometimes seemed that almost any film could be described as dystopian, a tendency which has seriously diminished the usefulness of the term. Here, to the contrary, the editors have insisted on clear definitions of the concepts of dystopia and utopia, in sum, this work will be an essential reference for anyone working in the area of film and utopia.» (Peter Fitting, University of Toronto)

• Contents: Artur Blaim/Ludmiła Gruszewska Blaim: Introductory Remarks: The Uses of Dystopian Worlds – Artur Blaim: Failed Carnival: The Metonymic Dystopias in Werner Herzog’s Even Dwarfs Started Small – Barbara Klonowska: Defamiliarization of Dystopian Narratives: Esteban Sapir’s The Aerial – Zofia Kolbuszewska: Of Dystopia, Desire and Death: Goto, the Island of Flies – Grzegorz Maziarczyk: Huxley/Orwell/Bradbury Reloaded; or, The Campy Art of Bricolage – Justyna Galant: Vague Boundaries and Re-configured Senses: Dystopia(s) in the making in David Cronenberg’s Videodrome – Ludmiła Gruszewska Blaim: Against the Culture of Fear: Terror and Romance in V for Vendetta – Marta Komsta: Juliusz Machulski ’s Sexmission, or Paradise Regained – Andrzej Sławomir Kowalczyk: Between Dystopia and Eutopia: Andrei Tarkovsky’s Stalker – Katarzyna Pisarska: Out of the Drawer and Back Again: Utopian Satire in Juliusz Machulski ’s Kingsajz – Ludmiła Gruszewska Blaim/Patrycja Wawrzyszak: East European Golgotha: Constructing Postmodern Dystopia in Piotr Szulkin’s Ga-ga: Glory to the Heroes – Urszula Terentowicz-Fotyga: On the Impossibility of Dystopia? Children of Men or the Apocalypse Now.