In his 1949 short novel, Story of Tomorrow, Italian writer Curzio Malaparte depicts postwar Europe invaded by the Soviet Union. The book focuses on the new political order in Italy, and particularly on the fates of several important Italian politicians from the 1940 decade (Alcide De Gasperi, Palmiro Togliatti) and of the author himself. It can be disputed whether the text may be considered an alternate history (or rather political fiction), mainly because of the lack of an explicit nexus event (i.e. the event that creates the alternative reality in relation to the one known to the reader). Although the events depicted in the book take place in near future or – more probably – in an alternative present, the author’s main aim is to provide a highly critical and satirical commentary on contemporary Italy’s political situation.
In the international circuit of fictional texts from the last fifty years (perhaps even one hundred years, in some cases), several independent international organizations, academic and editorial platforms of critique and debate have been established. They have been organizing international contests, fine authorities of critical appreciation, evaluation and awarding of most prolific authors and most successful fictional texts: novels, short stories, stories or utopian and dystopian fictions. The allotment on cultural corridors, the geographical identification of both author and title dynamics which have been nominated at the most prestigious international awards for fiction demonstrates an increased emergence of several zones where wide international circulation texts were seldom, fifty years ago. In this paper, we suggest a reinterpretation and a comprehension of the political context from the contemporary fiction, by regrouping in one category, the three classical genres (historic novel, social novel, political novel) and also the universal fiction which implies characters and relations of power. Thus, we create a category which is known as „political fiction”. The increased individualization of this literary macro-genre called „political fiction” is also a creative answer to the high speed of circulation and at the general international amplitude with which contemporary socio-political novels are distributed.
This article is devoted to analyzing and interpreting different images of politician which appeared in Polish contemporary literature. One major factor that has a huge influence on transformation of politician’s image is connected with changing lifestyle after 1989. People have started thinking about career. Their existence has mainly focused on mass consumption. Politicians have become greedy and egocentric people who do not think about society. They often break the law and take bribes. Despite being husbands, they have many affairs with women/men. That is why, contemporary writers have started criticizing politicians and the world of politics.
Edukacja rzadko przyciąga uwagę współczesnych literatów. Tym bardziej interesująca powinna być dla pedagogów ostatnia powieść Michela Houellebecqa Uległość. Przedstawiono w niej zaskakującą wizję przyszłości francuskiego systemu oświaty, w której świecki model szkolnictwa zostaje zastąpiony przez model wyznaniowy. Zdaniem autorki, wizja ta współgra z narastającym nurtem politycznego konserwatyzmu i wymaga od pedagogów przemyślenia wartości stojących za współczesnym szkolnictwem.
EN
Education rarely attracts the attention of contemporary writers. That’s why educators should be particularly interested in Michel Houellebecq’s latest novel, Submission. The book presents a surprising vision of the future of the French education system – replacing the current secular model of education by a religious one. In the opinion of the author of the article, Houellebecq’s vision fits in with the rising tide of political conservatism. This requires a rethinking of the values standing behind contemporary education.
The article discusses the novel 2025. An-Nida al-Akhir [2025. The Last Call] written by a young Egyptian journalist and writer born in 1982 – Mustafa al-Husayni. The novel was published in early 2011, between the fall of Zayn al-Abidin Ibn Ali in Tunisia and of Husni Mubarak in Egypt. It describes a revolution against the regime of Jamal al-Mubarak, son of Husni, spurred by a group of young Egyptians. The story takes place in 2025 and anticipates the development of the political situation in Egypt and the Middle East between 2011 and 2025 in a utopian/dystopian manner. Alongside Utopia by Ahmad Khalid Tawfik and the poetry of Usama al-Abnubi and Abd ar-Rahman al-Abnudi, al-Husayni’s book is considered to be a forecast of the Arab Spring in Egypt.
The author aims to identify elements of dystopia in three unfinished manuscripts by Mickiewicz which were published in one volume entitled A History of the Future. The article first examines the terminological difficulties associated with differentiating between the notions of “anti-utopia” and “dystopia”. It then proceeds to discuss aprose work by Mickiewicz which exists only in the form of a summary written by Antoni Edward Odyniec, a friend of the poet. The analysis of Odyniec’s depiction leads to a conclusion that Mickiewicz was writing an innovative work according to the poetics of science fiction, a genre largely unknown at the time, a work which would predict the directions of Europe’s development in the areas of ethics, politics, civilization and technology. It is impossible, however, to determine the potential significance of dystopian factors in that work. The largest number of dystopian features was found in the second fragment of A History of the Future which describes the final stage of aPan-European revolution against monarchal order. The last fragment of A History of the Future, which predicts the course of a political coup in France, is connected in the present article not so much with the poetics of dystopia as with the genre of “political fiction”.
JavaScript is turned off in your web browser. Turn it on to take full advantage of this site, then refresh the page.