Looking Backward - Bellamy, Edward

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Résumé :
First published in 1888, Looking Backward: 2000-1887 is the highly influential work of utopian science fiction by American journalist Edward Bellamy. In the years following the American Civil War a growth in inequality led to an increase in social and economic turmoil. The rise of ever larger and less competitive firms was causing wages to stagnate and created an appetite amongst the populace for solutions to help mitigate the negative effects of an unrestrained and increasingly plutocratic form of capitalism. This appetite gave rise to a popular new literary genre, the utopian socialist novel, of which Looking Backward is arguably one of the most famous examples of. It is the story of young Julian West who is induced by hypnosis into a deep 113 year sleep. When he awakes in the year 2000 he finds that America has been transformed into a socialist utopia. Upon waking West readily encounters Doctor Leete, who explains to him what has transpired since he has slept. Society through a combination of technological advancement and the nationalization of the productive capacity of the United States has become a world in which people work together in mutual cooperation and harmony. Looking Backward was one of the best-selling novels of the 19th century, one which would inspire a large number of people to promote more socialistic public policies. This edition is printed on premium acid-free paper and includes an introduction by Sylvester Baxter....

Biographie:
American novelist, writer, and political activist Edward Bellamy (March 26, 1850 May 22, 1898) is best known for his utopian novel Looking Backward. A large number of Nationalist Clubs were established as a result of Bellamy's optimistic outlook on a peaceful future. One of the 19th century's greatest financially successful works was his utopian masterpiece Looking Backward. Early in the 1890s, Bellamy founded a publication called The New Nation and started to promote joint action between the numerous Nationalist Clubs and the budding Populist Party. Edward Bellamy was born in Chicopee, Massachusetts, Bellamy studied for two semesters at Union College of Schenectady, New York. He briefly studied law but abandoned that field without ever practicing as a lawyer. Bellamy married Emma Augusta Sanderson in 1882 and had two children. At the age of 25, Bellamy developed tuberculosis, the disease that would ultimately kill him. He passed away when he was 48 years old. In 1971, his Massachusetts house of all time was named a National Historic Landmark. He has a street Bellamy Road in Toronto named after him....