Utopia or dystopia? Anxiety and emptiness in Leif Randt's Schimmernder Dunst über CobyCounty

Abstract

In Schimmernder Dunst über CobyCounty (2011), Leif Randt presents a county that seems to be a perfect representation of a consumerist utopia: located on the shore, CobyCounty is characterized by abundant parties, consumerism and wellbeing. The book, however, is narrated by a young man tormented by the possibility of a coming catastrophe, since his best friend left town, following his mother's advice - a woman that had joined an esoteric religion. If the perfect functioning of this society is very similar to an utopia, the fear of an announced catastrophe brings the work closer to a dystopia. Other than both genders, the narrative does not present any centralizing kind of power - even if consumerism and advertisement are frequently mentioned. In this article, Schimmernder Dunst über CobyCounty will be presented in the light of utopia and dystopia studies. Its bonds to the present time will be emphasized, mostly the dichotomy between the comfort society produced by the advanced technological development and the necessity to avoid the excesses that produced by the same society in the name of a possible ecological catastrophe, that has been announced by scientists and activists, but that still does not affect people's life directly.