Dystopia as an anticipation of reality. Analysis of the resonances of literary dystopias in Byung-Chul's philosophy

Abstract

In this article, we propose to show the different resonances that exist between the dystopian literature works Brave New World by Aldous Huxley and 1984 by George Orwell and the philosophy of Byung-Chul Han. We want to highlight how, in both the dystopian works and Han's philosophy, it is possible to anticipate and question, simultaneously, the ethical and political reality. In both of the literary works analyzed we can appreciate certain anticipation of problems of current times, and their power to philosophically question the established order. We put these anticipations in dialogue with the ideas of the Korean philosopher, specifically with the ideas disseminated in his works The Burnout Society, The Transparency Society and Psychopolitics; we highlight in these works his lucid diagnosis of current society, with emphasis on the problems of the subject and his freedom in the current economic model. Finally, show how, from Byung-Chul Han's interpretation of the mentioned dystopias and other literary works, there is a proposal for a way out of the economic model that constrains the freedom of the subject. The proposal we infer from Han's work is based on the denial of action and speech to confront the dominant model and generate a discourse that can break with homogeneity.