B o o k R eview s Krishan Kumar. U t o p i a n i s m . Minneapolis: University o f Minnesota Press, 1991. Pp. viii + 136. $29.95 cloth, $11.95 paper. Ruth Levitas. T h e C o n c e p t o f U t o p i a . Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1991. Pp. x + 224. $34.95 cloth, $14.95 paper. These two books are a testimony to a burgeoning interest in utopian studies, both in Europe and the USA. They also provide a useful corrective to some of the excesses of this utopian revival. In particular they attempt to introduce a degree of conceptual rigour into a field where the term ‘utopian’ has become increasingly woolly; where anything from three people in a field to Last Tango in Paris is deemed to be utopian. As Adorno noted in the case o f Ernst Bloch’s highly inclusive definition of the utopian, “ everything borders on being nothing.” Kumar attempts to provide a brief introduction to the field. It is clear, accessible and well-written, and relatively comprehensive, given the space constraints. In the process Kumar does attempt to clarify a number of vexed conceptual questions. The two purposes do not, in this case, go hand in hand, for Kumar’s introductory mandate leads him to include material which his clarificatory impulse would seem to rule out o f court. This is because Kumar defines utopia very narrowly as the literary form invented by Thomas More in 1516. Kumar further asserts that the utopia is a product of western culture, and could not have emerged in non-westem societies. This certainly makes the subject more manageable, but it is something of a Pyrrhic victory, with restriction amounting to reduction. Out go the very plausible ancient and medieval claimants, as does the indigenous material of vast tracts of the globe. Non-literary forms, such as social and political theory, would also appear to be eliminated. The counter-case is, of course, that Kumar has simply universalised one par ticular example of a much broader field. He would also seem to be very close to implying that utopianism is tantamount to cultural imperialism in non-western societies. Kumar also finds it difficult to remain within the framework of his definition. He is, for example, unwilling to let social theory entirely slip out of the net, and therefore suggests that “ it may be helpful to add to utopia, as an additional or supplementary category, the genre of ‘utopian theory’ or ‘utopian thought’ ” (28). There is, however, no adequate theorisation of the relationship between utopia and utopian theory. Nonetheless, Kumar’s short text is a welcome addition to the debate. Conceptual clarification is at the heart of Levitas’s book. She examines a range of thinkers, including Marx, Sorel, Mannheim, Bloch, William Morris and Marcuse, and topics such as contemporary utopian studies, and the shifting nature of the utopian canon. The analytical core of the text is her attempt to characterise utopianism in terms of content, form and function. Thus one can look at the actual features of the utopia—its institutions, economic and political organisation, educational practices and so forth; one can also exam ine the form in which the utopian vision is presented, be it the classic utopian novel, political constitution, social theory and the like; finally the purpose or motivation behind the exercise can be investigated—the function of this or that utopian moment. To this task she brings impressive analytical skills and a sharp, occasionally fierce, critical intelligence. Like Kumar her framework does not always fit the material, and she is forced to add qualifying terms such as “ tends to ” and “ on the whole.” Her most interesting observations occur in the discussion of function. She rejects notions of utopian impulses or utopian men talities as essentialist and prone to closure. Instead she argues that at the basis of utopia lies “ desire” —“ the desire for a different, better way of being” (181)—though critics might suggest that there is an element of essentialism in this proposition also. These two books point the way forward for the second phase of the utopian revival— VOL. XXXIV...
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May 13, 2021
Jedediah E Blanton + 2
Open Access