The rise of the dystopian immigration novel
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Photos: Courtesy of W. W. Norton & Company/Nancy Paulsen Books
Migrant and refugee crackdowns worldwide amid war, violence, climate change, technological surveillance and the rise of authoritarian rulers are giving fuel to a new genre in literature — the dystopian immigration novel.
Why it matters: Dystopian fiction around climate chaos and neo-fascist, theocratic regimes has boomed since the 2010s, but in recent years, more writers have tackled dystopian visions around human migration that serve as warnings.
Zoom in: Dystopian immigration novels published in the last decade or so are set in the future and in countries resembling the United States and the United Kingdom, where technology and racism rule the day.
- In "Ink," by Sabrina Vourvoulias, government policies mark and track immigrants and their children with tattoos as freedoms evaporate around them.
- "The Wall," by British novelist John Lanchester, is sent in an unnamed island nation with an enormous concrete barrier around its coastline to keep out boats carrying migrants trying to get through. If border guards fail to stop them, the guards are banished to the ocean as punishment.
- "Sanctuary," by Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher, focuses on the year 2032 in the U.S., where residents are microchipped and followed, making it hard for undocumented people to function in Vermont.
- "Exit West," by British Pakistani novelist Mohsin Hamid, follows a couple in love who must escape a nation on the brink of civil war, but to do so, they must enter a "door" to an unknown land.
The intrigue: While early modern dystopian immigration novels had their roots in far-right conspiracies that blame people of color for social ills, the newer crop focuses on the plight of the immigrant.
- The 1973 French dystopian novel, "The Camp of the Saints," used racist stereotypes and called for violence in depicting the fall of white Western civilization because of migration from South Asia and Africa.
The big picture: Writers of color are experimenting with science fiction, speculative fiction and horror to pose questions about their positions in the world and universe.
- More Black writers and artists, for example, are turning to science fiction — and an artistic movement known as Afrofuturism — to tackle issues around race and inequality and give fans an escape from the harsh realities on Earth.
- Ecuadorean American Michael Zapata's "The Lost Book of Adana Moreau" is part of the growing Latinofuturism movement.
