First a bit of context. The related genres of utopian and dystopian fiction experienced a literary surge from roughly the mid-19th century to the first decade or so of the 20th. Most were stand-alone works but some went on to produce numerous unofficial sequels, refutations, and even social movements. For example, the publication of Étienne Cabet's Travels in Icaria in 1848 led a group of people to leave France for the US to create utopian communities inspired by the novel that would end up surviving for fifty years.
The most famous example in the American context, however, would definitely be Looking Backward. Published in 1888 by Edward Bellamy and describing a socialist future of nationalized industries, the novel not only led to a host of dystopian refutations but also to the spontaneous generation of Nationalist Clubs, political groups who worked to further government nationalization to bring about the utopia in his book. The movement only lasted ten years due to Bellamy's tuberculosis and brain drain to the Populist Party, but it's still a striking impact for a novel. That brings me to A Crystal Age.
Published in the UK a year before Looking Backward by W.H. Hudson, the novels begin with the same narrative device (a 19th century man falls unconscious and wakes up in the future) but are wildly divergent from there. In Bellamy's novel, technological advancement has rendered society a paradise, while in Hudson's it caused the complete collapse of modern society and a return to pastoralism. The most striking thing about the novel is it's approach to social structure, where people in the future live in extended groups containing only one breeding pair. I'm curious if this unusual novel could enjoy a decade of popularity that produces a social movement of true believers, even a short lived and probably culty one. Basically, with a pre-1900 POD is it possible to see eusocialist Naturalist Clubs to contrast with Bellamy's socialist Nationalist Clubs?
The most famous example in the American context, however, would definitely be Looking Backward. Published in 1888 by Edward Bellamy and describing a socialist future of nationalized industries, the novel not only led to a host of dystopian refutations but also to the spontaneous generation of Nationalist Clubs, political groups who worked to further government nationalization to bring about the utopia in his book. The movement only lasted ten years due to Bellamy's tuberculosis and brain drain to the Populist Party, but it's still a striking impact for a novel. That brings me to A Crystal Age.
Published in the UK a year before Looking Backward by W.H. Hudson, the novels begin with the same narrative device (a 19th century man falls unconscious and wakes up in the future) but are wildly divergent from there. In Bellamy's novel, technological advancement has rendered society a paradise, while in Hudson's it caused the complete collapse of modern society and a return to pastoralism. The most striking thing about the novel is it's approach to social structure, where people in the future live in extended groups containing only one breeding pair. I'm curious if this unusual novel could enjoy a decade of popularity that produces a social movement of true believers, even a short lived and probably culty one. Basically, with a pre-1900 POD is it possible to see eusocialist Naturalist Clubs to contrast with Bellamy's socialist Nationalist Clubs?
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