Narrating Utopia

Book excerpt: Although writers' images of the utopian society contain many diverse and often contrasting elements, Ferns (English, Mt. St. Vincent U., Nova Scotia) argues that the actual story that accounts for how the central character discovers utopia has remained more or less consistent since the Renaissance. Ferns investigates the ideological implications of this story, and emphasizes the problems it creates for writers trying to free themselves from its limitations, particularly feminist writers who sometimes perceive the utopian narrative as a distinctly male myth. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR