The challenges of solidarity in an anarchist utopia: Margaret Killjoy’s A Country of Ghosts as a utopia of process

• Authors: Gilarek Anna

Title variants

PL

Wyzwania solidarności w anarchistycznej utopii: A Country of Ghosts Margaret Killjoy jako procesualna utopia

• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

The article discusses Margaret Killjoy’s literary realization of an anarchist society in her 2014 novel A Country of Ghosts. Killjoy creates a vision of society which is highly decentralized, anti-authoritarian, and egalitarian. It is based on free association and voluntary participation, yet its success is dependent on solidarity, mutual aid, and acceptance of responsibility. The depicted social reality is examined as a utopia of process, namely one which is open-ended, dynamic, and also not perfect – the author identifies the challenges that the solidarity of such a utopian space would face: the clash between communal consensus and personal autonomy, the treatment of potential conflict, maladjustment and crime, the performance of the decentralized state in the face of global crisis. Finally, the novel is analyzed as a work of modern anarchism, insofar as it demonstrates the impact of other contemporary anti-authoritarian movements, the result being a novel that is not merely an anarchist utopia, but one which may also be perceived as a queer utopia, a feminist utopia or an ecotopia.

PL

Celem artykułu jest analiza literackiej wizji społeczeństwa anarchistycznego ukazanego w powieści autorstwa Margaret Killjoy A Country of Ghosts (rok wyd. 2014). Killjoy opisuje społeczeństwo zdecentralizowane, egalitarne i nie uznające hierarchii, czy władzy zwierzchniej. Jest ono oparte na solidarności, wzajemnej pomocy i poczuciu odpowiedzialności. Przedstawiona rzeczywistość społeczna analizowana jest jako utopia dynamiczna i niedoskonała – autor ukazuje różnego rodzaju próby, jakim może być poddana solidarność takiej społeczności: zderzenie pomiędzy konsensusem społecznym a osobistą autonomią, konflikty, przestępczość, nieprzystosowanie społeczne, jak również kwestia funkcjonowania zdecentralizowanej społeczności w obliczu globalnego kryzysu. Powieść analizowana jest także jako tekst reprezentatywny dla nowoczesnego anarchizmu, ponieważ widać w niej wpływy innych współczesnych ruchów społecznych: powieść jest utopią nie tylko anarchistyczną, ale może też być postrzegana jako utopia feministyczna, ekologiczna, lub utopia queer.

Keywords

EN

anarchism; utopianism; feminist utopia; queer utopia; ecotopia

PL

anarchizm; utopianizm; utopia feministyczna; utopia ekologiczna; utopia queer

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Gdański
• Journal: Beyond Philology: An International Journal of Linguistics, Literary Studies and English Language Teaching
• Year: 2017
• Issue: 14/4
• Pages: 81-96

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

Gilarek Anna

• Uniwersytet Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach

References

• Bright, Matthew (2017). “Queer Lit Q&A: Margaret Killjoy”. Matthew Bright Website. Available at <http://www.matthew-bright.com/queer-lit-qas-posts/queer-lit-qa-margaret-killjoy>. Accessed 30 June 2017.
• Davis, Laurence (2009). “Introduction”. In: Ruth Kinna, Laurence Davis (eds.). Anarchism and Utopianism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1-8.
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• Greenway, Judy (2009). “Speaking desire: Anarchism and free love as utopian performance in fin de siècle Britain”. In: Laurence Davis, Ruth Kinna (eds.). Anarchism and Utopianism. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 153-170.
• Intellectus Speculativus. Speculative Ideas: Reviews, Essays &C On Speculative Fiction (n.d.). “A Country of Ghosts by Margaret Killjoy”. Available at <https://intellectusspeculativus.wordpress. com/2014/08/05/a-country-of-ghosts-by-margaret-killjoy/>. Accessed 24 May 2017.
• Killjoy, Margaret (ed.). (2009). Mythmakers and Lawbreakers: Anarchist Writers on Fiction. Oakland: AK Press.
• Killjoy, Margaret (2010). “Take what you need and compost the rest: An introduction to post-civilized theory”. The Anarchist Library. Available at <https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/margaret-killjoy-take-what-you-need-and-compost-the-rest-an-introduction -to-post-civilized-theo>. Accessed 10 May 2017.
• Killjoy, Margaret (2010). “Anarchism versus civilization”. The Anarchist Library. Available at <https://theanarchistlibrary.org/lib rary/margaret-killjoy-anarchism-versus-civilization>. Accessed 24 May 2017.
• Killjoy, Margaret (2014). A Country of Ghosts. San Francisco: Combustion Books.
• Kinna Ruth (2012). Anarchism: A Beginner’s Guide. Oxford: Oneworld Publications.
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• Le Guin, Ursula, Margaret Killjoy. “Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Killjoy – mythmakers & lawbreakers: Anarchist writers on fiction”. 2010. Pdxjustice Media Productions. Available at Vimeo: <https:// vimeo.com/9010456>. Accessed 12 April 2017.
• McKenna, Erin (2001). The Task of Utopia: A Pragmatist and Feminist Perspective. Lanham: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc.
• Montgomery-Blinn, Samuel (2014). “Coming to Town: Margaret Killjoy for A Country of Ghosts”. BULL SPEC: A Magazine of Speculative Fiction. Available at <http://bullspec.com/2014/03/04/coming-to-town-margaret-killjoy-for-a-country-of-ghosts/>. Accessed 13 June 2017.
• Sargent, Lyman Tower (2009). Contemporary Political Ideologies: A Comparative Analysis. Wadsworth: University of Missouri.
• Walter, Nicolas (2002). About Anarchism. London: Freedom Press.

Identifiers

ISSN

1732-1220

ISSN

2451-1498