Source Number/Letter:
9
MLA/APA/AMA Citation:
Moichi, Yoriko. "Japanese Utopian Literature from the 1870s to the
Present and the Influence of Western Utopianism." Utopian Studies 10.2 (1999): 89-97.
Source Validation:
The author has a PhD in Comparative Literature.
How did you find this source?:
My CHS mentor provided me with this source from JSTOR.
Intended audience:
The intended audience is for college students and professors.
What arguments/topics does this source discuss?:
The paper focuses on modern Japanese utopian and dystopian literature
and western pieces has influenced it. In the Meiji period, people noticed that Japan was
weaker than the west, militarily and economically, due to a 150 years of isolation. When
Japanese authors started to write in the genre it was very confusing when compared to the
rest of the subject because it the intent was to focus on political ideology. One of the
earliest pieces, the short story Kappa by Akutagawa, looks at the relationship between the
individual and society; which is a theme commonly seen western dystopian novels. Many
western pieces influenced their Japanese counterparts in which they started to develop a
more optimistic tone towards the future.
Minimum 3 quotes, paraphrases, summaries of source text that seem likely to be
helpful in future writing:
When compared with the utopian writings of the Meiji period,
Akutagawas allegorical short fiction can be seen to have developed the two poles of
reality and fiction, through which he criticises Japanese society of the 1920s. (Moichi,
92)
Some of the problems entailed in modern Japanese utopias may suggest
not only the fact that Japanese utopia/dystopian literature is still underdeveloped as a
literary genre, but may also point to the generic confusion in critical studies of the
definition of utopian literature. (Moichi, 89)
The utopian literature of this period emphasized the importance of
political meanings, and the writers concern rested on the belief that literature had to be a
device for education, whose chief function was, according to Tsubouchi, frequently
proclaimed to be the encouragement or chastisement of morals. (Moichi, 91)
Source Number/Letter:
10
MLA/APA/AMA Citation:
Scholes, Justin, and Jon Ostenson. "Understanding the Appeal of
Dystopian Young Adult Fiction." The ALAN Review ALAN 40.2 (2013): n. [Link]
Tech Digital Libraries and Archives. Web.
Source Validation:
The authors are both respected members of the English department in
Virginia Tech.
How did you find this source?:
Hours of Google searching while only changing a few words and only
through power of a supernatural deity was I finally able to find a source for this topic.
Intended audience:
This source is intended for college students and professors.
What arguments/topics does this source discuss?:
This source is one of the few theses concerning the young adult
dystopian genre. It talks about how adolescents are evolving from the black and white
view of childhood into the rainbow view of adulthood. Therefore the use of young adult
dystopian fiction helps adolescent to discover their identity while delivering a message
concerning the path the world is taking. The source talks about how no matter what
background the novel has the protagonist takes note of how the world is becoming
inhumane and the government has isolated the country/city from the rest of the world.
The article also takes note of how the protagonist must face internal and external
challenges; as the protagonist slowly takes control of the problems inside, it reflects in
how they react to outside world.
Minimum 3 quotes, paraphrases, summaries of source text that seem likely to be
helpful in future writing:
As teens approach adulthood, they begin paying more attention to the
structures and systems that lie ahead. This includes career possibilities and lifestyle
choices, but also more abstract systems such as moral standards and social norms.
(Scholes and Ostenson)
As protagonists awaken to the realities around them, they feel an
overwhelming sense that life has lost the value that it once had in the worldrespect for
life has been sacrificed for comfort or security. In YA dystopian novels, it is often this
inhumanity that pushes the protagonists to action. (Scholes and Ostenson)
In the context of challenges such as these, dystopian fiction for young
adults describes protagonists who reach a realization about their role in the larger society:
they come to see themselves as agents, individuals with a will (often in sharp contrast to
the will of the society) and with the capacity to not only disagree with prevailing opinions
but to act out against them. (Scholes and Ostenson)