http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3119 Sun, 05 Apr 2026 23:49:26 GMT 2026-04-05T23:49:26Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3581 Survival is Insufficient’: Imagining Utopia within Dystopia in Station Eleven, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Human Acts Khan, Tanvir Mustafiz Dystopian fiction may portray destruction, decay and suffering within its narrative aura but it also makes room for utopian imagination to sprout and grow. Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven and Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? speculate a world ravaged by a deadly pandemic and a nuclear fallout respectively, while Han Kang’s Human Acts depicts the historical events of the bloody and chaotic May 1980 uprising in Gwangju, South Korea. In the first chapter of this dissertation, Kermode's theoretical lens on apocalyptic fiction from The Sense of an Ending helps understand the existential dilemma of the characters in the aforementioned novels immediately after the crises, while the theory of state control from Louis Althusser's On The Reproduction Of Capitalism reveals the inherent binary conflicts within the narratives. In the second chapter, the theoretical perspectives of solastalgia, salvage and postmemory by Glenn Albrecht, Evan Calder Williams and Marianne Hirsch respectively shed light on the survival mechanisms that aid the characters to overcome their post-crisis distress, pick up the fragmented objects and ideas of value and transmit their knowledge, ideologies and sociocultural concepts to the next generation. Utilizing Fredric Jameson’s theoretical framework on utopian fiction from Archaeologies of the Future, the final chapter of this paper analyzes the fragmented utopian impulses existent within the three novels to prove that these impulses within the characters’ individual and collective psyches drive the dystopian narratives out of their initial chaotic backdrops towards a more positive and uplifting tone, hence breaking away from the constraints of their preconceived narrative genre. Overall, this dissertation aims to prove that dystopian fiction does not necessarily endorse meaningless suffering but aspires to find meaning within meaninglessness and purpose within chaos. This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Thu, 08 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3581 2021-04-08T00:00:00Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3275 Totalizing Metanarrative of Bangladesh in the Light of Tahmima Anam’s Bengal Trilogy Ahmed, Sakiba The objective of metanarrative is to retell the stories, experience and norms of the previous generation to create meaningful guidance for the future generation. However, the metanarrative of Bangladesh gradually becomes totalitarian by silencing different coexisting voices and becomes sexist, racist and stereotypical resulting in a meaningless and unrelatable guideline to the future generations. Tahmima Anam’s A Golden Age, The Good Muslim and The Bones of Grace include the narratives of women, working-class people, and Urdu-speaking community who are never represented or misrepresented in the metanarrative of the country. The first book represents Rehana as Urdu speaking non Bengali who is misrepresented in the metanarrative of the war by omitting their contribution and popularizing negative stereotypes. The second book presents the sufferings of women from all walks of life. Their contribution to the war is minimized in the metanarrative by misusing religious teaching, superstition and moral policing. The third book focuses on the downtrodden working-class people who are exploited by the powerful class and are never properly represented in the metanarrative. Be it in the pre-war or post-war times, their condition remains the same and gets worse despite the change in government. Social mobility for these marginalized people is limited or near to impossible, forcing them to live in misery. Thus, people of different marginalized groups can rarely speak against the totalitarian metanarrative for their rights, safety and respectable place in the society. This paper aims to prove that Anam intentionally gives voice to the marginalized people that create a scope for a progressive and peaceful future by showcasing the shortcomings of the totalitarian metanarrative of Bangladesh. This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh Mon, 01 Nov 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3275 2021-11-01T00:00:00Z http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3120 Apocalypse is No More Far, it is here: Prognostication about Technological Jeopardies in Dystopian Fiction and Film Mursheeda, Afia The aim of this dissertation is to showcase that dystopian fictions are consist of predictions regarding few technological hazard which currently might not seem like a threat towards us. Living in 21st century, our life is immersed in science and technological advancement and we are extremely welcoming towards those technological flourishing as we do not want to be non-progressive. However, while welcoming the gradual technological flourishment to make life more comfortable and advanced, we are inviting some unexplainable threats towards us. This thesis has focused on three such emerging crisis, which are; obsession towards electrical beauty enhancement, invasion of surveillance through social media and the use of life comforting technological tools and lastly, threat towards human originality caused by the normalization of body enhancement i.e. cyborg and extreme practice of genetic engineering. This thesis will attempt to demonstrate that authors of dystopian fictions have attempted to warn the readers by foreseeing and predicting few crucial technological hazard. While doing so, this thesis have used five primary sources which consists of three novels, one TV series and one Movie. The used novels are, Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley, Uglies (2005) by Scott Westerfeld, If I had Your Face (2020) by Frances Cha. The two other primary visual fictions are, American TV series You (2018), developed by Greg Berlanti and Sara Gamble and Dystopian sci-fi film RoboCop (2014) directed by José Padilha. This thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MA in English Language and Literature of East West University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://dspace.ewubd.edu:8080/handle/123456789/3120 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z