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The Dispossessed

Cover of first edition (hardcover)
Author	Ursula K. Le Guin
Language	English
Series	The Hainish Cycle
Genre	Science Fiction
Publisher	Harper & Row
Publication date	1974
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages	341 pp (First Edition)
ISBN	ISBN 0-060-12563-2 (First edition, hardcover) Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character
OCLC	800587

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia is a 1974 utopian science fiction novel by Ursula K. Le Guin, set in the same fictional universe as that of The Left Hand of Darkness (the Hainish Cycle). The book won the Nebula Award in 1974, both the Hugo and Locus Awards in 1975, and received a nomination for the John W. Campbell Memorial Award in 1975. It is also notable for achieving a degree of literary recognition unusual for science fiction works.

Setting

The story of The Dispossessed is set on Anarres and Urras, the twin inhabited worlds of Tau Ceti. Cetians are mentioned in other Ekumen novels and short stories. An Anarresti appears in the short story The Shobies' Story. Urras before the settlement of Anarres is the setting for the short story The Day Before the Revolution. In The Dispossessed, Urras is divided into several states which are dominated by the two largest ones, which are rivals.

The story has many themes, as well as the creation of the ansible, an instantaneous communications device that plays a critical role in Le Guin's Hainish Cycle. (The invention of the ansible places the novel first in the internal chronology of the Hainish Cycle, although it was the fifth Hainish novel published.)

In a clear allusion to the United States (represented by A-Io) and the Soviet Union (represented by Thu), one has a capitalist economy and patriarchal system and the other is an authoritarian system that claims to rule in the name of the proletariat. Further developing the analogy, there is in A-Io an oppositional left-wing party which is closely linked to and supporting the rival Thu, as were Communist parties in the US and other Western countries at the time of writing.

Beyond that, there is a third major, though underdeveloped, area called Benbili - when a revolution breaks out there, A-Io and Thu invade Benbili generating a proxy war. Thus, Benbili comes to represent south-east Asia, an allusion to the Vietnam War.

In the last chapter of The Dispossessed, we learn that the Hainish people arrived at Tau Ceti 60 years ago, which is more than 150 years after the secession of the Odonians from Urras and their exodus to Anarres. Terrans are also there, and the novel occurs some time in the future. A date of 2300 has been suggested, while the complexities of Urrasti history hint otherwise.

The plot

Plot structure

The chapters take turns in terms of setting - even-numbered chapters are set on Anarres, odd-numbered chapters are set on Urras, the only exceptions are the first and the last chapter which include both worlds and are, thematically, chapters of transition. In chapter one, we are basically in the middle of the story, while the plot of the last Anarres-chapter (i.e., the penultimate chapter, or, chapter twelve) ends at a point before the plot of the first chapter begins.

This peculiar narrative structure creates a phenomenon for the reader's processing of the text: linearity (or, in Le Guin's terms generic to that narrative universe, Sequentiality) is being subverted in favor of utter-most approximation of beginning and ending of the story - not knowing, however, whether or not this effect was expressly intended by Le Guin's use of this structure, it encourages readers to question their own perception and conception of time, which are also basic topics, themes and motifs discussed within the novel, both explicitly by Shevek and other characters and implicitly by construing the narrative world around them.

Le Guin is neither the only nor the first American writer using this stylistic device of nonlinear narration. For instance, William Faulkner used this kind of structure (cf. "A Rose for Emily", Light in August), while in his writing an apparently unmarked change of perspective, or point-of-view, between or within chapters, may occur.

Plot summary

The story takes place on the fictional planet Urras and its moon Anarres (since Anarres is massive enough to hold an atmosphere, this is often described as a double planet system). In order to forestall an anarcho-syndical workers' rebellion, the major Urrasti states gave the revolutionaries the right to live on Anarres, along with a guarantee of non-interference, approximately two hundred years before the events of The Dispossessed. Before this, Anarres had had no permanent settlements apart from some mining.

The protagonist Shevek is a physicist attempting to develop a General Temporal Theory. The physics of the book describes time as having a much deeper, more complex structure than we understand it. It incorporates not only mathematics and physics, but also philosophy and ethics. The meaning of the theories in the book weaves nicely into the plot, not only describing abstract physical concepts, but the ups and downs of the characters' lives, and the transformation of the Anarresti society. An oft-quoted saying in the book is "true journey is return." .

Anarres is in theory a society without government or coercive authoritarian institutions. Yet in pursuing research that deviates from his society's current consensus understanding, Shevek begins to come up against very real obstacles. Shevek gradually develops an understanding that the revolution which brought his world into being is stagnating, and power structures are beginning to exist where there were none before. He therefore embarks on the risky journey to the original planet, Urras, seeking to open dialog between the worlds and to spread his theories freely outside of Anarres. The novel details his struggles on both Urras and his homeworld of Anarres.

The book also explores the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, that language shapes thinking, and thus, culture. The language spoken on the anarchist planet Anarres, Pravic, is a constructed language that reflects many aspects of the philosophical foundations of utopian anarchism. For instance, the use of the possessive case is strongly discouraged. In one scene, Shevek's daughter, meeting him for the first time, offers him "You can share the handkerchief I use," rather than "you may borrow my handkerchief", thus conveying the idea that the handkerchief is not owned by the girl, merely carried by her.

The Dispossessed looks into the mechanisms that may be developed by an anarchist society, but also the dangers of centralization and bureaucracy that might easily take over such society without the continuation of revolutionary ideology. Part of its power is that it gives a spectrum of fairly well-developed characters, who illustrate many types of personalities, all educated in an environment that measures a person not by what he owns, but by what he can do, and how he relates to other human beings. Possibly the best example of this is the character of Takver, the hero's partner, who exemplifies many virtues: loyalty, love of life and living things, perseverance, and desire for a true partnership with another person.

The work is sometimes said to represent one of the few modern revivals of the utopian genre, and there are certainly many characteristics of a utopian novel found in this book. Most obviously, Shevek is an outsider in Urras, following the "traveler" convention common in utopian literature. All of the characters portrayed in the novel have a certain spirituality or intelligence, there are no nondescript characters. It is also true to say that there are aspects of Anarres that are utopian: it is presented as a pure society that adheres to its own theories and ideals, which are starkly juxtaposed with Urras society.

However, the work is subtitled "An Ambiguous Utopia", and one of the major themes of the work is the ambiguity of different notions of utopia. Anarres is not presented as a perfect society, even within the constraints of what might define an anarchist utopia. Bureaucracy, stagnation, and power structures have problematized the revolution, as Shevek understands through the course of the novel. Moreover, Le Guin has painted a very stark picture of the natural and environmental constraints on society. Anarres citizens are forced to contend with a relatively sparse and unfruitful world. Hardship caused by lack of resources is a prominent theme, reflected in the title of the novel. Anarres citizens are dispossessed not just by political choice, but by the very lack of resources to possess. Here, again, Le Guin draws a contrast with the natural wealth of Urras, and the competitive behaviors this fosters. Le Guin's foreword to the novel notes that her anarchism is closely akin to that of Pyotr Kropotkin's, whose Mutual Aid closely assessed the influence of the natural world on competition and cooperation. Le Guin's use of realism in this aspect of the work further problematizes — ambiguates — a simple utopian interpretation of the work. Anarres is not a perfect society, and Le Guin shows that no such thing is possible.

Influences for the novel

Le Guin's title could be in reference to Dostoyevsky's novel The Possessed.

One scene in the novel bears remote resemblance to the Stanford prison experiment, while its actual influence on the novel stays unclear. Childhood Shevek and some friends – curious about Urras and what prisons must be like – decide to play prison and enact a game very similar in design and results to the actual experiment, including its being cut short.

Translations

• Chinese: "一无所有", 2008.
• Finnish: "Osattomien planeetta", 1979.
• French: "Les Dépossédés".
• German: "Planet der Habenichtse", later "Die Enteigneten", 2006.
• Hebrew: "המנושל"
• Hungarian: "A kisemmizettek", 1994.
• Italian: "I reietti dell'altro pianeta", later "Quelli di Anarres", 1976.
• Japanese: "所有せざる人々", 1986.
• Korean: "빼앗긴 자들", 2002.
• Polish: "Wydziedziczeni"
• Portuguese: "Os Despossuídos"
• Czech: "Vyděděnec", 1995.
• Russian: "Обездоленные", 1994, "Обделённые", 1997.
• Serbian: "Čovek praznih šaka".
• Spanish: "Los desposeídos", 1983.
• Swedish: "Shevek", 1976
• Turkish: "Mülksüzler".
• Greek: "Ο αναρχικός των δύο κόσμων".
• Bulgarian: "Освободеният".

See also

• Anarchism in the arts
• Libertarian socialism

References

Anarchism and The Dispossessed

• John P. Brennan, "Anarchism and Utopian Tradition in The Dispossessed", pp. 116–152, in Olander & Greenberg, editors, Ursula K. Le Guin, New York: Taplinger (1979).
• Samuel R. Delany, "To Read The Dispossessed," in The Jewel-Hinged Jaw. N.Y.: Dragon Press, 1977, pp. 239–308 (anarchism in The Dispossessed).
• Neil Easterbrook, "State, Heterotopia: The Political Imagination in Heinlein, Le Guin, and Delany", pp.43–75, in Hassler & Wilcox, editors, Political Science Fiction, Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina Press (1997).
• Leonard M. Fleck, "Science Fiction as a Tool of Speculative Philosophy: A Philosophic Analysis of Selected Anarchistic and Utopian Themes in Le Guin's The Dispossessed", pp. 133–45, in Remington, editor, Selected Proceedings of the 1978 Science Fiction Research Association National Conference, Cedar Falls: Univ. of Northern Iowa (1979).
• John Moore, "An Archaeology of the Future: Ursula Le Guin and Anarcho-Primitivism", Foundation: The Review of Science Fiction, v.63, pp. 32–39 (Spring 1995).
• Larry L. Tifft, "Possessed Sociology and Le Guin's Dispossessed: From Exile to Anarchism", pp. 180–197, in De Bolt & Malzberg, editors, Voyager to Inner Lands and to Outer Space, Port Washington, NY: Kennikat (1979).
• Kingsley Widmer, "The Dialectics of Utopianism: Le Guin's The Dispossessed", Liberal and Fine Arts Review, v.3, nos.1-2, pp. 1–11 (Jan.-July 1983).

Gender and The Dispossessed

• Lillian M. Heldreth, "Speculations on Heterosexual Equality: Morris, McCaffrey, Le Guin", pp.209–220 in Palumbo, ed., Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature, Westport, CT: Greenwood (1986).
• Neil Easterbrook, "State, Heterotopia: The Political Imagination in Heinlein, Le Guin, and Delany", pp.43–75, in Hassler & Wilcox, editors, Political Science Fiction, Columbia, SC: U of South Carolina Press (1997).
• Mario Klarer, "Gender and the 'Simultaneity Principle': Ursula Le Guin's The Dispossessed", Mosaic: A Journal for the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature, v.25, n.2, pp.107–21 (Spring 1992).
• Jim Villani, "The Woman Science Fiction Writer and the Non-Heroic Male Protagonist", pp. 21–30 in Hassler, ed., Patterns of the Fantastic, Mercer Island, WA: Starmont House (1983).

Language and The Dispossessed

• Deirdre Burton, "Linguistic Innovation in Feminist Science Fiction", Ilha do Desterro: Journal of Language and Literature, v.14, n.2, pp. 82–106 (1985).

Property and possessions

• Werner Christie Mathiesen, "The Underestimation of Politics in Green Utopias: The Description of Politics in Huxley's Island, Le Guin's The Dispossessed, and Callenbach's Ecotopia", Utopian Studies: Journal of the Society for Utopian Studies, v.12, n.1, pp. 56–78 (2001).

Taoism and The Dispossessed

• Elizabeth Cummins Cogell, "Taoist Configurations: The Dispossessed", pp. 153–179 in De Bolt & Malzberg, editors, Ursula K. Le Guin: Voyager to Inner Lands and to Outer Space, Port Washington, NY: Kennikat (1979).

Utopian literature and The Dispossessed

• John P. Brennan, "Anarchism and Utopian Tradition in The Dispossessed", pp. 116–152, in Olander & Greenberg, editors, Ursula K. Le Guin, New York: Taplinger (1979).
• Bülent Somay, "Towards an Open-Ended Utopia", Science-Fiction Studies, v.11, n.1 (#32), pp. 25–38 (March 1984).
• Peter Fitting, "Positioning and Closure: On the 'Reading Effect' of Contemporary Utopian Fiction", Utopian Studies, v.1, pp.23–36 (1987).
• Kingsley Widmer, "The Dialectics of Utopianism: Le Guin's The Dispossessed", Liberal and Fine Arts Review, v.3, nos.1-2, pp. 1–11 (Jan.-July 1983).
• "The new utopian politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed", edited by L. Davis and P. Stillman, Lexington Books, (2005).

Additional references

• Judah Bierman, "Ambiguity in Utopia: The Dispossessed", Science-Fiction Studies, v.2, pp. 249–255 (1975).
• James F. Collins, "The High Points So Far: An Annotated Bibliography of Ursula K. LeGuin's The Left Hand of Darkness and The Dispossessed", Bulletin of Bibliography, v.58, no.2, pp.89–100 (June 2001).
• James P. Farrelly, "The Promised Land: Moses, Nearing, Skinner, and Le Guin", JGE: The Journal of General Education, v.33, n.1, pp. 15–23 (Spring 1981).

Footnotes

1. "1974 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
2. ^ "1975 Award Winners & Nominees". Worlds Without End. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
3. In The Word for World is Forest, the newly created ansible is brought to Athshe, a planet being settled by Earth-humans. In other tales in the Hainish Cycle, the ansible already exists. In Rocannon's World it is central to the plot.
4. The story is told in Le Guin's "The Day Before the Revolution".
5. Said by Shevek near the end of Chapter 13
6. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed, p.69.
7. Burton (1985).
8. The new utopian politics of Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed, edited by L. Davis and P. Stillman (2005)
9. Peter Kropotkin, Mutual Aid (1902).
10. "Study Guide for Ursula LeGuin: The Dispossessed (1974)" - Paul Brians

External links

• The Dispossessed title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Study Guide for Ursula LeGuin: The Dispossessed (1974) ISBN 0-06-105488-7
• Review of The Dispossessed
• Golwen wiki - Anarres Specifically, note the link to a readable map of Anarres (Argentina, Spanish language)
• Golwen wiki - Urras Specifically, note the link to a readable map of Urras (Argentina, Spanish language)
• The Dispossessed at Worlds Without End

Template:Ekumen

• 1974 novels
• Anarchist fiction
• Ekumen novels
• Hugo Award Winner for Best Novel
• Science fiction novels
• Nebula Award Winner for Best Novel
• Prometheus Award winners
• Utopian novels