New Amazonia

by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett

New A Foretaste of the Future (1889) is a novel by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett. In June 1889, British novelist and President of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League Mary Augusta Ward published her reactionary essay “An Appeal Against Female Suffrage” in The Nineteenth Century. In response, Corbett penned New Amazonia , a feminist utopian novel which depicts the emergence of an advanced society of women in the not-so-distant future. While little is known about Corbett, her surviving novels and stories suggest she was a passionate campaigner for women’s suffrage in an era of conservative politics and traditional values. “‘This country is New Amazonia. A long time ago it was called Erin by some, but Ireland was the name it was best known by. It used to be the scene of perpetual strife and warfare. Our archives tell us that it was subjugated by the warlike English, and that it suffered for centuries from want and oppression.’” Having fallen asleep for hundreds of years, a Victorian man and woman emerge to a vastly different world. Following a devastating war between Britain and Ireland, the British repopulated their colony with women deemed to be surplus. On New Amazonia, these women came to control all aspects of government and culture, leading to the eradication of corruption and oppression. Scientifically advanced, the Amazonians have developed a technique for strengthening the human body and increasing the lifespan of women by hundreds of years. Mesmerized by what she finds in this fascinating new world, the narrator records her reactions alongside those of her male counterpart, who remains openly hostile to the Amazonians throughout. For its depiction of an advanced matriarchal society and celebration of feminist ideals, New A Foretaste of the Future remains an important early work of utopian science fiction. With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett’s New A Foretaste of the Future is a classic of feminist utopian fiction reimagined for modern readers.

Genres: Utopia, Science Fiction, Fiction, Dystopia

118 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1889

About the author

Not to be confused with Elizabeth Corbett, Elizabeth T. Corbett, or Elizabeth Jane Corbett.
1846-1930
Writer and journalist, also known as "Mrs George Corbett".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...

Reviews

[Pia G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5/4.

[Malena Varanini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este es un libro distinto porque por lo menos por mi parte había leído libros de ciencia ficción y ficción distopica pero nunca una ficción utópica.
Comienza el prólogo con una nota real de una revista, firmada por mujeres de la aristocracia inglesa a fines del siglo XIX en contra del sufragio femenino. Esto hace que la autora se plantee en escribir una utopía feminista en donde las mujeres no solo votan, sino que viven en una sociedad matriarcal aproximadamente en el siglo XXV.
El personaje principal de esta historia se despierta en este siglo y ve con sus propios ojos como es vivir en este tipo de sociedad.
El libro está planteado casi todo como un diálogo entre la protagonista y las habitantes de Nueva Amazonia, y funciona como excusa para plasmar algunas ideas de la autora.
Me sorprendió mucho porque está escrito en 1889 y tiene ideas super progresistas en cuanto a la vida social y política de las mujeres. Creo que está bueno leerlo para conocer cuales eran los deseos de las mujeres que vivieron antes que nosotras y ver si alguno de ellos se cumplió.

[Ana Navalón · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lectura imprescindible para darnos cuenta de que todavía nos queda mucho por luchar para que las mujeres rompamos que los techos de cristal. Es increíble como un texto escrito hace más de cien años todavía está vigente en tantos y tantos aspectos, sobre todo en la posición de la mujer en la sociedad. Conceptos tan familiares todavía para nosotras en el siglo XXI y tan retrógradas e imposibles de creer para las neoamazónicas del siglo XXV.

[Santiago Gª Soláns · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Publicada en 1889 y enclavable dentro del género de fantasías utópicas al que diera lugar la novela de Tomás Moro, resulta inquietante lo actual que resultan algunos de sus postulados y lo ingenuo de otros. Es triste, pero, aunque es evidente que lo hemos hecho, hemos avanzado menos de lo que pudiera pensarse. En plena era victoriana la autora especula con un futuro en que, en determinada sociedad, los derechos de las mujeres han avanzado hacia un ideal igualitario, con cierta inclinación positiva hacia el gobierno de las mujeres. Nueva Amazonia se puede considerar, así lo hace la editora-traductora de la novela en su muy interesante introducción, como un ensayo novelado, una obra que se sirve de la ficción para presentar el mundo ideal al que aspirar; eso sí, según una óptica femenina muy imbuida del reduccionismo y clasismo británico de la época, finales del siglo XIX nada menos, donde el necesario cambio de modelo en los roles de género se ve contrastada por la búsqueda de una perfección blanco-anglosajona. Presenta una muy interesante serie de cuestiones sobre las que reflexionar, invitando todavía hoy a cuestionarse el actual estado de las relaciones y los derechos entre hombres y mujeres.

Reseña completa en SAgacomic:
http://sagacomic.blogspot.com.es/2018...

[Cristina Bracho Carrillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

El viaje a Nueva Amazonia se trata de un artificio para la exposición de las ideas de Burgoyne, que se nos presentan mayormente en un formato pregunta-respuesta y que sorprenden por su corte revolucionario. El contenido del libro impresiona de una forma u otra debido a la época en la que se escribió, y la autora discurre sobre una variedad de temáticas amplísima, aunque a mí las que más me han llamado la atención son las que considero de rabiosa actualidad y que jamás habría imaginado encontrar en un libro del siglo XIX, como por ejemplo la preponderancia que concede al "mens sana in corpore sano" (defiende la práctica de diversos deportes como educación exclusiva en los niños hasta cierta edad, ya que asegura que al adquirir una buena forma física tardarán solo dos años en aprender lo mismo que los niños ingleses, lánguidos por el exceso de carga académica, en toda su escolarización), la prohibición del tabaco (rebeliones y protestas incluidas), las bondades de una dieta vegetariana y la repugnancia a la hora de sacrificar a los animales o la eutanasia, que se practicaba de manera habitual.

De estos puntos, entre muchos otros, se sirve Burgoyne para idear un sistema de gobierno alternativo con todo lujo de detalles y con tal maestría que parece que estés leyendo un libro de historia en lugar de una ficción. Muy buen prólogo además por parte de la editora y traductora, que explica cómo aborda ciertos aspectos de la traducción, como su interpretación de las particularidades de la lengua neoamazónica. Y ojo a lo terrorífico del rechazo del sufragio universal por parte de las damas acomodadas justo al inicio del libro (el motivo por el que Burgoyne se indigna, estalla y redacta el libro), porque a mí la frase "no lo aceptaría aunque se me ofreciera", aplicada a la demanda de otros tantos derechos básicos en la sociedad de hoy en día, me trae a la mente tantas caras que me provoca escalofríos.

[Dallass · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am truly not sure where to begin...

I have never read anything by Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett, and I was hesitant - until I read the Prologue. Her writing is amazing. So articulate and intelligent. Her ideas are still appreciable in 2019, and she was so ahead of her time.

During this dystopian, or as I thought of it, her version of a Rip Van Winkle, the protagonist goes to sleep in front of a fire in 1889, only to wake up in a feminists utopia in 2472. EBC touches on topics such as universal education and healthcare, equal pay, and throwing off the yoke of MAN made doctrines. It was quite startling to see that a lot of the topics and themes she expressed back in the late 1880s are actually still currently in the media - 110 years later, and society is still working on equal pay and rights for women. How depressing is that?

So, while the protagonist is soaking up the feminist dream, I was waiting for the sting in the tail to reveal itself, and boy, does it ever. I won’t spoil the story, but I am so glad that I picked this obscure story up. If you love feminist authors, then please check out Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett.

4 stars ⭐️

[conor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. Again, structured in a way to give characters opportunities to just talk with each other, revealing the changes in society that have taken place. A shift in time has occurred here too, with changes in what places are called, but the geography being more or less the same (certainly something to think about the ways that Ireland is characterized vs England). A woman-centered story that talks about some gender questions a bit more straightforwardly than some of the other utopian texts. I would have loved to see the story really pick up where it draws to a close—our central narrator is forced to reckon with her inability to return home, as the England of the past is impossible to reach—how would she fit into this new ‘utopia’? What questions would be raised by her actual life there? But alas, instead she goes to take some drugs and wakes up back in the past/her present, as if waking from a dream.

[Alma Lectora · Rating 4 out of 5]

un libro para empezar a conocer esa lucha por la igualdad de la mujer en el S.XIX. Una novela con muchas ideas utópicas pero que pueden ayudar a ver por lo que luchaban en un principio y ver lo que se ha conseguido. También podemos ver la realidad de las mujeres en esa época. Un libro base para la lucha feminista actual.

Más sobre mi opinión en la reseña del blog
https://almalectora.blogspot.com/2018...

[Roger Burk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this "utopian" novel from the 1880s with a kind of horrified fascination. The author imagines a benevolent and efficient totalitarian omnipotent state of the sort that could only be entertained by someone from a sheltered existence, ignorant of how people really behave and how the world really works. She imagines that anything done by a government will be done well, wisely, and efficiently. The narrative frequently veers into sometimes sarcastic rants against aspects of the 19th century the author despises--poverty, drunkenness, "Foreign Missions" that divert charity overseas, hypocritical Christians, whole-body burial (it pollutes the water supply!), limited rights for women, etc. Nowadays I think we all would tend to agree with her regarding the injustice of women's legal disabilities in her era. However, the insane naivete of her "utopia" could be a plausible example showing women should not in fact be eligible to vote. To be fair, utopian fantasies about remaking society in toto were very popular in her time, from Bellamy's Looking Backward to Communism.

So our heroine falls asleep while fuming over an anti-women's-suffrage letter in the paper, and wakes up in the 26th century. It turns out that after a sanguinary war in the early 20th century (England and Germany vs. France and others), Britain's excess women (with their children) were sent to recolonize Ireland and set up a state founded on new principles. In it, only never-married women are allowed in high government office or important professional positions, since masculine government leads to "the free admission of corruption, injustice, immorality, and narrow-minded, self-glorifying bigotry" (p. 112). Men can enter the professions, but not high government office. The native Irish grumbled for a while at this new colonization, but eventually assimilated to the new order. In a short time a utopia was realized because of the superior abilities of women. Now everything is based on "scientific principles," so "purity, peace, health, harmony, and comfort reign" (p. 100). All New Amazonians are "perfect models of beauty, grace, and dignity" (p. 93) and typically seven feet tall. Everything is so perfect, so clean, so efficient, so attractive, so "paradisiacal," that the reader wants to barf.

The government (generally called "the Mother") carefully controls immigration, thoroughly vetting people to ensure that no loafers or other undesirables are let in. The Mother controls all imports and exports (notably Irish linen) and receives the profits therefrom. "No sooner is anything condemned by the Mother, than its importation or manufacture is strictly forbidden" (p. 121). The coasts are carefully watched to prevent smuggling as well as illegal immigration. All citizens receive basic military training and serve when needed in a militia that has proven adequate to repel all threats. The Mother is a partner in all businesses "of any magnitude" and runs public transportation and all such major enterprises. Manufacturing is done in working halls in the lower floors of apartment buildings. There everything is "pleasant to look upon" and one finds "light, warmth, and ventilation all perfect." Working hours are restricted to 7 to 5, with time off for meals. Pay for all trades is the same. The government sets prices and inspects stocks daily. Of course, the Mother gets a share of all profits. There is a compulsory national dress that indicates one's rank, though it is becoming, graceful, and comfortable. Women cut their hair short. Alcohol and tobacco are prohibited. An official censor reviews all books submitted for publication for "offenses against morality" (p. 164). Our author also informs us that in her utopia the government zealously protects authors' right and restrains grasping publishers, though it does take a percentage of the profits.

The book says a little about advances in technology over seven centuries. There is no air pollution because everything runs on electricity. Transport is by quiet, clean, efficient electro-hydraulic cars. Entertainment communicated directly to the home is technologically possible, but it has been taxed out of existence--people prefer live performance anyway. Medicine has advanced to the point that illness is almost unknown and serious injuries healed while the victim is put in a drugged sleep. Rejuvenation is available in "Physiological Halls," where the effects of ageing are removed using the "nerves of young and vigorous animals." People typically live several centuries. The health of the population is promoted by ensuring only healthful foods are available; diet is manipulated to control temperament. Meat eating is forbidden because "flesh eating is a habit which induces coarseness of mind and body." Elevators are restricted to increase exercise in the population. Children receive healthful physical education until the age of 10, when book-learning starts (the Mother provides free education).

Morals are strict in New Amazonia. Everyone always pays their debts. Adultery in women is punished with lifetime menial work, in men with confiscation of property and deportation. However, divorce is available on demand. In this utopia "all children [are] considered the property of the state" (p. 75). In the name of eugenics, malformed children are euthanized, along with the incurably insane, the persistently criminal, and the illegitimate. A gentle suicide is expected of the very feeble aged. Despite longevity, the population of New Amazonia is stable--maybe not surprising, since marriage disqualifies from some offices. Nevertheless, those who have more than four children are punished.

Christianity has been replaced as the state religion by a public acknowledgment of a deistic "Giver of Life." The New Amazonian concept is that embodied life is for the purpose of speeding progress towards wisdom, purity, and bliss. This progress continues after death, but more slowly. Jesus is held in high esteem as the most progressed of men, but Christianity is rejected as the source of robbery, oppression, murder, cruelty, and idolatry. (It gets no credit for hospitals or poor relief.) St. Paul is derided as a misogynist. We learn that his attitude resulted from a disappointing love affair with the daughter of the High Priest in Jerusalem. (I have no idea where this fantasy came from.)

After all this fascinating didactic absurdity, our heroine sniffs a drug and finds herself back in the 19th century.

[Maria Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

La reseña completa en http://inthenevernever.blogspot.com.e...

"Hasta que hayamos logrado despertar el respeto por nosotras mismas, que los hombres llevan siglos teniendo como misión extinguir, no podemos esperar conseguir los resultados que requieren una acción conjunta."

Es increíble que un libro escrito hace más de un siglo siga teniendo mensajes tan válidos ahora para las mujeres en nuestra lucha por la igualdad. No puedo hacer otra cosa que invitarlos a visitar a Nueva Amazonia, para descubrir ese futuro que Elizabeth Burgoyne Corbett creó. Es inspirador ver la cantidad de ideas y cómo otros mundos y formas de hacer las cosas son posibles. Además, la novela nos permite descubrir a una autora con un talento sin igual, y con unas ideas muy claras. De nuevo gracias a Defausta por recuperar esta historia.

[Joel Wall · Rating 4 out of 5]

a feminist utopia and scathing critique of English society in 1889 (and yet still relevant today). It didn't really have a plot beyond the exploration of this new world but personally I was okay with that.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book reads like a really bad acid trip. From a technical standpoint, the book was written well and reads easy, however what I noticed was the extensive use of irony on the author's part. While doing away with the "old" bad, she often makes reference to the "new" bad that is being created. She does this several times throughout the book when comparing this new amazonia to Ireland/England/etc. This is best shown in her discussion of the new universal ethic. Often the speaker says what things are better now, but as an aside mentions some of the impacts--intended and unintended. Feminist or not, dystopian or not, the message comes clear....no matter what you have, its the same old thing...

[evie · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting text but I don't think this counts as a book - there is little narrative, with huge amounts of the chapters just being the characters explaining the perks of Corbett's utopian society. Nt much fictional depth, but that's to make way for the author's clearly argued real world points, and they are enjoyable if a bit whack (btw this utopian society regularly euthanises people. That's like one of their big things.)

Still! This was a super interesting read and glad my course pointed me to it, but the writing is just a bit too underfleshed from me to rate higher. The larger craft of the writing did remind me of 10 year old Evie's wattpad credits at times.

I did actually yell out NO! at the ending though. That made me so mad.

[María González-Albo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impresionante! Una novelista del siglo XIX se enoja al leer un artículo en contra del sufragio femenino firmado por mujeres, se adormenece y despierta en Nueva Amazonia en el siglo XXV.
Escrita hace casi 130 años, contiene párrafos de rabiosa actualidad.

[Irene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Es un libro muy interesante, con ideas muy avanzadas para estar escrito a final del siglo XIX. Me quedo con ganas de saber más de Nueva Amazonia, al final el lenguaje resulta un poco denso pero me ha gustado mucho esta utopía feminista. Debería conocerse más.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty readable for one of these late 1800s-1900s utopias. Less monologues about the minute structures of the society, and more plot and character. Interesting that it is a matriarch - literally in that only women are allowed in government - but men are otherwise completely free and equal.

[Carmen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5/5

[Asun Martín · Rating 4 out of 5]

La visión feminista de una mujer de principios se siglo XX sobre una sociedad futura y femenina del siglo XXV.

[· · Rating 1 out of 5]

(11 November, 2020)

Ouch, this does not start well, ‘male bipeds’, really? Corbett does not like hawkers but in the next paragraph she praises women who earn their own livelihood, as if women hawkers did not exist, WTF?... so I just skipped the Prologue.

Just as much as other dystopia novels of the day, 'New Amazonia' is more exposition than actual story, not as much as 'The Iron Heel' but also not as well written either. This is as dumb as 'Ecotopia', 'Walden Two' and 'Woman on the Edge of Time'; only rich people are allowed in government, and they have to be healthy, no diseases or deformities please; a sort of eugenics program is in effect too (wow!); if you have any kind of mental instability they kill you. The author follows

"Nevertheless, we are not disposed to be narrow-minded ourselves, by way of avenging past oppression."

with

"Our Tribunes, Privy Councillors, Prime Advisers, and Leader are always women."

The list goes on and on, consider this: they despise foreigners, you have to conform to their norms of beauty (which, by the way, seem to be from male-dominated ancient Greece), the government controls religious institutions, Corbett's assumption that women are better than men (sounds just as smart as the misogynistic fools of today, doesn't it?), all terrifying.

The prose is not great but is easily readable, the ideals, on the other hand, are terrible. Just take everything sexist now (or in those days), reverse it and call it feminism. That’s just sexism of a different kind. If you want to read a great feminist novel, try 'The Gate to Women's Country' or, of course, 'The Handmaid's Tale', you'll be happy you did.