COHFA | 16th Century British Literature
Back from the Clouds: A Summation of Chloe Houston’s The Renaissance Utopia
Academic Level at Time of Presentation
Senior
Major
Literature
Minor
N/A
List all Project Mentors & Advisor(s)
Dr. Barbara Cobb
Presentation Format
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Description
Chloe Houston’s The Renaissance Utopia: Dialogue, Travel, and the Ideal Society is a book that transforms our conceptions of utopias. Houston shows that utopias—primarily including those imagined in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe—in form have evolved from abstract philosophizing to calls for actual social reform. She discusses how these utopian works take the form of dialogues, satire, and travel narrative to achieve to imply a need for reform. Reviewers of Houston’s work suggest a bias from the lack of certain details in the works she discusses, but her book is overall a valuable inclusion in studies of utopias and their evolution of such a concept over time.
Spring Scholars Week 2018 Event
16th Century British Literature
Back from the Clouds: A Summation of Chloe Houston’s The Renaissance Utopia
Chloe Houston’s The Renaissance Utopia: Dialogue, Travel, and the Ideal Society is a book that transforms our conceptions of utopias. Houston shows that utopias—primarily including those imagined in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe—in form have evolved from abstract philosophizing to calls for actual social reform. She discusses how these utopian works take the form of dialogues, satire, and travel narrative to achieve to imply a need for reform. Reviewers of Houston’s work suggest a bias from the lack of certain details in the works she discusses, but her book is overall a valuable inclusion in studies of utopias and their evolution of such a concept over time.