By the time The Dispossessed, a novel in the Hainish cycle of stories, emerged in 1974, Ursula K. Le Guin had already established herself as a literary heavyweight of speculative fiction. Her Earthsea trilogy (1968-1972) cemented her reputation as a master of children’s fantasy, but her breakthrough in science fiction came with The Left Hand of Darkness (1969), which garnered instant critical acclaim and, like The Dispossessed, won both a Hugo and a Nebula Award, SF’s two highest honors. Still, what set The Dispossessed apart, beyond the effectiveness and power of its narrative, was how the novel revived—almost single-handed—the genre of utopian literature. Although various utopian novels had appeared sporadically in the decades prior, including The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, a 1966 libertarian pro-capitalism utopia by Robert A. Heinlein, the genre of utopia fiction...
2487 words
Citation: Wise, Dennis Wilson. "The Dispossessed". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 October 2019 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=11789, accessed 09 June 2026.]
