On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia

Following European exploration of the Atlantic, origin myths could now be projected onto a possible future and ‘undiscovered’ lands. Often the island proved the most suitable design for these projections to ensure the ‘perfection’ of the community and avoidance of corruptive external influences. The...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Machado Jiménez, Almudena
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Jaén
Repositorio:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
OAI Identifier:oai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/4060
Acceso en línea:https://doi.org/10.1344/co20213148-66
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/36022
https://hdl.handle.net/10953/4060
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:patriarchy
utopia
colonisation
Thomas More
insularity
821
82.09
305
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spelling On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's UtopiaMachado Jiménez, AlmudenapatriarchyutopiacolonisationThomas Moreinsularity82182.09305Following European exploration of the Atlantic, origin myths could now be projected onto a possible future and ‘undiscovered’ lands. Often the island proved the most suitable design for these projections to ensure the ‘perfection’ of the community and avoidance of corruptive external influences. These novel conceptualisations envisaged new social constructs to explain human nature, however, they continued to be overtly patriarchal. Gender essentialism and colonisation of the female body was an integral part of reproducing traditional utopian imaginings. Thomas More’s Utopia exemplifies this archetypal gendered conceptualisation of the ideal island society where female education serves to reinforce patriarchal structures and women are essentialised in terms of their fertility. This paper addresses the relationship between the geography of Utopia and the insularity and confinement of women as dominated ‘matrixial entities’ which is further reinforced by utopian cartography. In this context, I assert that the process of colonisation and islanding unsettles the immutability of these patriarchal constructs and exposes the dystopian origins of Utopia.202520252021info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionapplication/pdfhttps://doi.org/10.1344/co20213148-66https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/36022https://hdl.handle.net/10953/4060reponame:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaéninstname:Universidad de JaénInglésCoolabah 2021; 31: 48-66.Atribución 3.0 Españahttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:ruja.ujaen.es:10953/40602026-06-24T12:41:07Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
title On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
spellingShingle On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
Machado Jiménez, Almudena
patriarchy
utopia
colonisation
Thomas More
insularity
821
82.09
305
title_short On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
title_full On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
title_fullStr On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
title_full_unstemmed On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
title_sort On Utopus' uterus: The colonisation of the body and the birth of patriarchal utopia in Thomas More's Utopia
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Machado Jiménez, Almudena
author Machado Jiménez, Almudena
author_facet Machado Jiménez, Almudena
author_role author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv patriarchy
utopia
colonisation
Thomas More
insularity
821
82.09
305
topic patriarchy
utopia
colonisation
Thomas More
insularity
821
82.09
305
description Following European exploration of the Atlantic, origin myths could now be projected onto a possible future and ‘undiscovered’ lands. Often the island proved the most suitable design for these projections to ensure the ‘perfection’ of the community and avoidance of corruptive external influences. These novel conceptualisations envisaged new social constructs to explain human nature, however, they continued to be overtly patriarchal. Gender essentialism and colonisation of the female body was an integral part of reproducing traditional utopian imaginings. Thomas More’s Utopia exemplifies this archetypal gendered conceptualisation of the ideal island society where female education serves to reinforce patriarchal structures and women are essentialised in terms of their fertility. This paper addresses the relationship between the geography of Utopia and the insularity and confinement of women as dominated ‘matrixial entities’ which is further reinforced by utopian cartography. In this context, I assert that the process of colonisation and islanding unsettles the immutability of these patriarchal constructs and exposes the dystopian origins of Utopia.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv https://doi.org/10.1344/co20213148-66
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/36022
https://hdl.handle.net/10953/4060
url https://doi.org/10.1344/co20213148-66
https://revistes.ub.edu/index.php/coolabah/article/view/36022
https://hdl.handle.net/10953/4060
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Coolabah 2021; 31: 48-66.
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Atribución 3.0 España
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Atribución 3.0 España
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
instname:Universidad de Jaén
instname_str Universidad de Jaén
reponame_str RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
collection RUJA. Repositorio Institucional de la Producción Científica de la Universidad de Jaén
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