Week 1 Response

What I found most interesting in Frederic Jameson’s deeply intricate essay “The
Politics of Utopia” were two enlightened points: “our imprisonment in a non-utopian
present without historicity or futurity”, and the loss of the “personality”, particularly
desire, of the utopian citizen, or its promotion. These two points triggered an avenue in
my thought process of a Utopian society, and the pros and cons that I had not explored
before. What I was able to gather from Jameson’s first enlightened point was the idea of
a Utopian society being conveyed in an imagined realm that is forever unattainable even
for a little. My imagination of a somehow perfect society is a reflection of the bars or
limitations of the “non-utopian” society that I am currently in. The conflicts of today like
money and support are not always fluent with me or to the majority of those who are not
wealthy or high up in the social ladder, such as government leaders; therefore, the
dream of a utopian society is far out of my reach physically. Mentally, Jameson goes on
to discuss the incapacity of the “non-utopian” in establishing a utopian society,
consequently conjures up an imagination of it. Jameson also, goes on to explore different
ideologies such as Marxism that, at least, steer to a kind of utopian society however
much flawed it is.
What is even more an important point for me was Jameson’s enlightened idea
of our “desires” being lost in a Utopian Society, or our “desires” becoming the drive to
that Utopian society. These are anti-utopian views of course, but they shed light on a
good point. If there is such a Utopian society would desires, all inclusive of sexuality,
addictiveness, personal interest, is relevant? Jameson points out that these things are
what make the human character, the aroma of personality, which I agree. The idea of a
Utopia sounds nice but the fact that we try to reach that idea highlights humanity’s
potential or madness in achieving such an imagined society.