Zheltikova, I. (2025) Temporal Vectors of Utopia: An Experience of Classification – МЕЖДУНАРОДНЫЙ ЖУРНАЛ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ КУЛЬТУРЫ

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Inga V. ZHELTIKOVA
Orel State University named after I.S. Turgenev
95, Komsomolskaya st., Orel, 302026, Russian Federation
Head of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies
PhD of Philosophy
e-mail: inga.zheltikova@gmail.com
ORCID: 0000-0002-4540-2797

Zheltikova, I. (2025) Temporal Vectors of Utopia: An Experience of Classification

Abstract: The article is devoted to the classification of utopias used as a methodological technique for studying this phenomenon. In the framework of the study, utopia is interpreted as a model of an ideal social order expressed in artistic form. The author proposes a new classification of utopian discourse - depending on the temporal focus of the described reality. The allocation of four groups of utopias: utopias of the past, utopias of the present, utopias of the future and timeless utopias, makes it possible, firstly, to identify the specifics of the value attitudes of each of the identified groups of utopias, and, secondly, to distinguish the functions performed by utopias of different types. Utopias of the present are focused on the archeological values of order, prosperity, equality, health, the interpretation of these values corresponds to the author's contemporary society. Anti-values in utopias of the present are: social chaos or total control, hunger, humiliation of personal dignity, those imperfections that are well known to the author's contemporaries and brought to the limit. The main function performed by the works of this group is critical. Their authors identify problem areas in real society and offer alternatives that are possible here and now. Utopias of the future are focused on anarchic values and archic anti-values. The main positive reference point is technical progress as a guarantee of freedom, prosperity, longevity, and the possibility of self-expression. This group of utopias reveals a promising system of values that exists in the society contemporary to the author. The embodiment of the named ideals in the society of the future differs significantly from the possibilities of their implementation that exist in the present. Utopias and dystopias focused on the future perform a motivational function. An attractive or frightening image of the future contained in them encourages readers to act. The cornerstone of the utopias of the past is order and social stability. The ideals of this group of models are archetypal and are rooted more in human psychology than in social construction. The past, as an arena in which utopian and/or anti-utopian models unfold, makes their main function an apology for the present. The temporal distance between the perfect or imperfect society of the past and the present makes the current society more attractive. Timeless utopias contain the most diverse set of social ideals, which are assessed from the standpoint of their viability and acceptability. It is in this type of utopia that we encounter a directly expressed reflection on the possibility or impossibility of a utopian society. Their main function is cognitive. The development of a new classification of utopias is based on a comparative historical analysis of more than a hundred utopian works, which is based on identifying the relative chronology of events occurring in the narratives. Structural-semiotic and hermeneutic analysis allow us to identify elements of texts that help determine the temporal direction of the narrative.

Key words: utopia, dystopia, classification of utopias, value system, image of the future, social ideal, social expectations.

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For Citation:

Zheltikova, I. (2025) Temporal Vectors of Utopia: An Experience of Classification. International Journal of Cultural Research, 4 (61). 20–36. DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_4_20

DOI: 10.52173/2079-1100_2025_4_20