Per un atlante delle distopie mediali: coordinate, traiettorie, occorrenze

This chapter illustrates the fundamental coordinates that are the basis of the 'Atlante delle distopie mediali' (Atlas of dystopian storytelling). The specific objective of the Atlas is to analyze the media narratives developed during the first twenty years of the 2000s and to highlight the reference models, the continuity or discontinuity with respect to the twentieth century narratives, systematically map- ping audiovisual materials (in particular films, tv series and video games). The Atlas aims to restore the variety of dystopian themes, taking into account both cultural specificities and any elements of transversality and analogy. The classification is carried out mainly according to two criteria: first, the thematic area that emerges as prevalent in the dystopian narrative; secondly, the cultural-linguistic context in which the dystopian narrative is elaborated. Under the first profile, there are six major thematic areas in which the narratives are divided: i) natural disasters, ii) epidemics and health emergencies, iii) migration, iv) conspiracy theories, v) crisis of democratic societies, vi) relationship between human and technology. Under the second profile, relating to the context in which the narrative emerges, the Atlas considers two levels of analysis: a) the places of production, with six geographical macro-areas (North America, South America, Europe, Nordics, Middle East, Asia-Pacific); b) the places of the setting.