: What is the requirements for a book be considered a 'Dystopian'? I have been trying for a long time to figure out if my story is just considered Dystopian or Fiction. It has things that are

Vote Up Vote Down

Think of it as a utopia that went wrong. So, a nation that was supposed to be a great society that got corrupted and became evil. (Although a bit of a loose metaphor, The Soviet Union could kind of be considered “dystopian.” The Bolsheviks Planned on created a wonderful society free of poverty and suffering, and then Stalin turned it into one of the deadliest societies in history. Nazi Germany could also be considered a dystopia.)

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

"Dystopian" describes a speculative society which is suffering (at least in the eyes of the reader) due to human's own device.

This is different (but can be close) from:

Post-apocalyptic, where though the apocalypse itself might be a result of human actions, but the society may be primitive, or humanely organized;
Alt-history, where the society that we see as dystopian is a fictionalized replica of a real historical society;
Alien invasion/robot uprising, where humans are suppressed by non-humans.

(0)

Vote Up Vote Down

Dystopian literature often overlaps with the post-apocalypse and science fiction genres. However, your story doesn't need either of those elements to be classified as dystopian.

Consider the origin of the word: a dystopia is the opposite of a utopia, a place or society of perfection. So dystopian fiction explores imaginary settings that create negative circumstances for the characters within them.

MasterClass cites five common themes in modern dystopian literature:

Government control
Environmental destruction
Technological control
Survival
Loss of individualism

If your story hits several of these themes, then the dystopian classification makes sense. Otherwise it may be easiest to label it speculative fiction.

(0)