Yesterday's tomorrows and tomorrow's yesterdays: Utopian literary visions of Antarctic futures

• Published in: The Polar Journal
• Main Author: Leane, E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Routledge 2013
• Subjects: Language; Communication and Culture; Literary studies; Literary studies not elsewhere classified; Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1080/2154896X.2013.854599; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/88302

This article surveys utopian visions of Antarcticas future offered by literary texts in English. The metaphorics of opposition associated with Antarcticas South Polar location has made it a popular site for literary utopias for centuries. Since the time-displaced utopia (or euchronia) began to flourish in the late nineteenth century, numerous literary speculations on the future of the continent have appeared. The article points out emergent patterns and repeated motifs within this subgenre. In early temporal utopias, Antarctica provides welcome space for imperial expansion and resource exploitation. In the dystopian, post-apocalyptic fiction that burgeoned after the Second World War, its icescape functions as both a possible threat and a place of refuge. The continent can be a source of hope in recent near-future fiction, although usually in an ambiguous manner. Literary visions of a future Antarctica inevitably extrapolate problems and opportunities evident in their authors own times. They provide estranged, denaturalized and hence potentially clearer perspectives on current issues: the present looks different seen as tomorrows yesterday.