An Ambiguous Utopia. The Concept of Utopia in Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Dispossessed'

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, University of Hannover, language: English, abstract: Ursula K. Le Guin's' The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia' is a science fiction novel from 1974, often conceived as a blueprint for an anarchist society. 'The Dispossessed' presents the reader a juxtaposition of Anarres and its sister planet Urras which houses a society based on capitalism. The aim of the present paper is to explore the location of utopia in 'The Dispossessed.' Is it a utopia as ambiguous as its subtitle declares? The paper argues that Le Guin's novel in many respects coincides with the concept of a critical utopia. Whereas it is true that both Urras and Anarres display many features that could be considered utopian, 'The Dispossessed' equally presents the flaws of its society which, as this paper suggests, relativises their status as the ideal place. The second part of the paper reflects upon the