From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our - Chris J. Young

Cases Five & Six: Exploring Nowhere
The rest was not perfected.
Francis Bacon, New Atlantis
The birth of the concept of utopia in Thomas More’s satire eventually gave rise to a new literary genre,
defined in the twentieth century as utopian literature. it asked the question: what would society look
like if the political, religious, economic, and cultural foundations of the known world were altered? in
response philosophers and writers began to open their minds to the endless possibilities of distant lands,
unimaginable futures, and alternative social structures. Questions of governance and political and gender
equality were prevalent issues during the three-hundred year period between the publication of Thomas
More’s Utopia, and the restructuring of European society at the time of the French Revolution. We see literary
utopias exploring ‘nowhere’ in trying to engage with the key issues of their time. Some utopians, such as
James Harrington, were persecuted and incarcerated for their views. Others had to be sensitive about how
their fiction might influence contemporary events and issues. The next two display cases explore ‘nowhere’
as envisioned by abbots, scientists, politicians, and the champions of individual rights, as they attempt to
address contemporary social, economic, and political issues affecting their respective societies.
26. François Rabelais (1490–1553?). Oeuvres de maitre François. Amsterdam:
Jean Frederic Bernard, 1741.
The Abbey of Thelme was a fictitious religious house created by François Rabelais in his Gargantua
and Pantagruel, published posthumously in 1567. in this satire, Rabelais describes a religious order
and abbey as envisioned by the monk who would rule over them.
All their life was spent not in laws, statutes, or rules, but according to their own free will and
pleasure. They rose out of their beds when they thought good: they did eat, drink, labour,
sleep, when they had mind to it and were disposed for it… in all their rule and strictest tie of
their order, there was but this one clause to be observed – DO AS THOU WOULDST.
Rabelais presents both a critique of monasticism, and the depiction of an ideal life for those primarily
interested in pleasure. Rabelais was heavily influenced by the myth of the Land of Cockaygne that
describes a land of abundant food and drink, where peaceful peasants unencumbered by work, live
in perfect health unrestrained by traditional customs and laws. Rabelais was later condemned by the
Catholic Church for his derision of certain religious practices in his satirical stories.
From Nowhere: Utopian and Dystopian Visions of our Past, Present, and Future 43