Idyll and Utopia

Idyll and utopia both refer to depictions of the satisfaction of needs in a temporal and spatial displacement. The idyll typically portrays a simple, peaceful natural state, often projected into a reconciled past on a small scale; by contrast, the “non-place” of the large-scale utopian society has often been located in a spatial distance from existing society, often looking into a possible future. We are interested in the literary, historical, political, and religious traditions of idyll and utopia, as well as in their contemporary forms and meaning. Our interdisciplinary graduate student conference will be concerned with these characteristics, commonalities and differences throughout the centuries.