Londra Yunus Emre Enstitüsü, 20 Haziran 2024 tarihinde Genç Akademisyen Seminer Serisi kapsamında akademisyen Doç. Dr. Emrah Atasoy'un katılımıyla "Gelecek Tahayyülleri: Türkiye'de ve Dünyada Ütopik ve Distopik Anlatılar" başlıklı bir konuşma gerçekleştirdi.

On June 20, 2024, within the scope of the Young Academician Seminar Series, London Yunus Emre Institute,. Dr. Organized a speech titled "Future Imaginations: Utopian and Dystopian Narratives in Türkiye and the World" with the participation of academician Assoc. Emrah Atasoy.

The event focused on a critical examination of the depictions of utopian and dystopian narratives in literature and cinema produced in Türkiye and the world. Through historical, literary and thematic analysis, it was emphasized that there are culture-specific world-building techniques that arise from cultural differences.

History and Literary Background of Utopian and Dystopian Narratives

Assoc. Dr. Emrah Atasoy started his speech by talking about the historical and literary background of utopian and dystopian narratives. He explained the characteristic features of the genre by referring to important works of this genre in cinema and literature, such as Thomas More's Utopia, Aldous Huxley's Brave New World and Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. He touched upon how important issues of today's world, such as the climate crisis and artificial intelligence, are addressed in speculative narratives. Providing information about academic and intellectual studies in literature and cinema in Türkiye and around the world, Atasoy also made a thematic analysis of famous director Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men (Last Hope) and Mert Baykal's Hot Skull.

Assoc. Dr. Atasoy concluded his presentation by emphasizing that utopian and dystopian narratives can bring potential solutions to current world problems. He concluded his speech by touching on the great importance of social and human sciences for solving global crises.

This research was supported by the EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Program and funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 945380 under the European Union Horizon 2020 programme. 

An academician in the field of English language and literatüre, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emrah Atasoy is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Program Postdoctoral Researcher (EUTOPIA-SIF COFUND) at the Institute of Advanced Studies and Department of English Language and Comparative Literature Studies at the University of Warwick. Assoc. Dr. Atasoy has worked as a guest researcher at universities such as Harvard University, Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona, ​​Oxford University and Penn State University. He received his doctorate degree from Hacettepe University, Department of English Language and Literature in 2019.