"The Other Dream" of Erewhon

an essay on the machines’ discreet rebellion

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2024..119-128

Keywords:

artificial intelligence, machine rebellion, pace and territory

Abstract

This paper conducts a comparative analysis of Samuel Butler's seminal work, Erewhon: or, Over the Range, and Vladimir Poleganov's contemporary novel, The Other Dream. The analysis centers on the discreet influence exerted by technology in the pursuit of territorial survival. The study delves into the catastrophic consequences arising from both the success and failure of this technological endeavour.

Author Biography

  • Nikolay Genov, Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski"

    Nikolay Genov, PhD, is a Senior Assistant Professor at the Institute for Literature at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and an Assistant Lecturer at Sofia University. His research interests include science fiction, digital media and video games. He is the author of the book Virtualniyat chovek: Opit varhu fantomatikata [The Virtual Human: An Essay on Phantomatics] (2022). His publications have appeared in various journals, anthologies and electronic platforms.

References

Genov, N. (2022). Virtualniyat chovek: Opit varhu fantomatikata. VS Publishing.

Genov, N. (2023). Mezhdu alternativna istoria i temporalizirana utopia: Potentsialat na uhroniyata. – Vav Filologicheski forum, 1(17), 159–171.

Kyosev, A., & Nikolchina, M. (2016). Bavnoto chetene: Vladimir Poleganov, Drugiyat san, IK „Kolibri“, S., 2016. Kultura. https://newspaper.kultura.bg/bg/article/view/26188

Poleganov, V. (2016). Drugiyat san. Colibri.

Breuer, H.-P. (1975). Samuel’s Butler “The Book of the Machines” and the Argument from Design. – In Modern Philology, 72(4), 365–383.

Butler, S. (2005). Erewhon, or Over the Range [eBook]. Planet PDF.

Kang, M. (2011). Sublime Dreams of Living Machines: The Automaton in the European Imagination. Harvard University Press.

Lem, S. (2013). Summa Technologiae. University of Minnesota Press.

Lem, S. (2020). The Invincible. The MIT Press.

Parrinder, P. (2007). Entering Dystopia. Entering Erewhon. – In Critical Survey, 17(1), 6–21.

Turbil, C. (2019). Memory, Heredity and Machines: From Darwinism to Lamarckism in Samuel Butler’s Erewhon. Journal of Victorian Culture, XX(XX), 1–17.

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Published

2025-11-06

Issue

Vol. 10 (2024)

Section

I. Dystopia Traditions, Genre Dynamics, Directions of Transformation

License

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How to Cite

"The Other Dream" of Erewhon: an essay on the machines’ discreet rebellion. (2025). Colloquia Comparativa Litterarum, 10, 119-128. https://doi.org/10.60056/CCL.2024..119-128