| |
| author |
Cecilia Lomanno
| | title |
Utopian Narratives in Speculative Fiction: Angels in America, Parable of the Sower, and the Practice of Resistance in Writing and Theatre
| | abstract |
This paper explores the popular texts Angels in America by Tony Kushner and Parable of
the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, and investigates how they create utopias. Because both texts
center respectively queer and Black voices, the belief systems of ACT UP and womanism are
utilized to examine the interplay between fictional worlds and characters and real-world
resistance. Through examining the direct actions of ACT UP and the tenets of womanism, this
thesis establishes the ways that Angels in America and Parable of the Sower utilize engage with
ideas of real-world resistance and temporality to create utopias. Through a focus on leadership,
religion, and perspective, these narratives engage large audiences in an active, radical, and
intersectional conversation, highlighting key beliefs from ACT UP and womanism, and directly
opposing hegemony in lieu of a more accepting, utopic society. The texts' utilization of both
real-world issues and speculation about the future roots them directly within a fraction of the
practice of resistance as they have developed in America has led to the continued reference to
these texts in both popular culture and academic spaces. Through an examination of both the
temporality and history and the literary and rhetorical devices used in the texts, this thesis studies
the way that Kushner and Butler imagined utopias in 1993, and how and why those utopias still
impact us today.
| | school |
The College of Liberal Arts, Drew University
| | degree |
B.A. (2026)
|
| advisor |
Hannah Wells
|
| full text | CLomanno.pdf |
| |
