The Tempest
“The Ultimate City” di J.G. Ballard
12 maggio 2008
J. G. Ballard
18 November 1930
Shangay, China!
“The Ultimate City”
(1976)
in The Low-Flying Aircraft and Other
Stories
Ultimate
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1 ADJ You use ultimate to describe the final result or aim of a long series of events.
He said it is still not possible to predict the ultimate outcome...
The ultimate aim is to expand the network further.
= eventual
2 ADJ You use ultimate to describe the original source or cause of something.
Plants are the ultimate source of all foodstuffs...
The ultimate cause of what's happened seems to have been the advertising
campaign.
= fundamental
3 ADJ You use ultimate to describe the most important or powerful thing of a particular
kind.
...the ultimate power of the central government...
Of course, the ultimate authority remained the presidency...
4 ADJ You use ultimate to describe the most extreme and unpleasant example of a
particular thing.
Bringing back the death penalty would be the ultimate abuse of human rights...
5 ADJ You use ultimate to describe the best possible example of a particular thing.
Caviar and oysters on ice are generally considered the ultimate luxury foods.
= definitive
6 PHRASE The ultimate in something is the best or most advanced example of it.
This hotel is the ultimate in luxury...
Confronto tra i personaggi
The Tempest (1611)
“The Ultimate City” (1976)
Alonso, King of Neaples
Halloway (padre)
Prospero, the right Duke of Milan
Buckmaster
Ferdinand, son to the King of Neaples
Halloway
Ariel, an airy spirit
Olds(mobile)
Caliban, a savage and deformed slave
Stillman
Miranda, daughter to Prospero
Miranda
Antonio, brother to Prospero, usurping
duke of Milan
Sebastian, brother to Alonso (King of
Neaples)
Invasion party/rescue expedition
Stephano, a drunken butler
Trinculo, a jester
Temi e simboli
• Utopia vs. distopia: l’uomo ha causato
una catastrofe energetica e ha dovuto
abbandonare la città per creare GardenCity, comunità idilliaca e perfetta, basata
sulla completa assenza della tecnologia.
– Ricerca dell’utopia come spinta a migliorare il
mondo;
– Delusione e ridimensionamento delle
aspettive umane.
• Città ideale:
– Prima la città tecnologica, alla ricerca della perfezione
armonica della convivenza umana;
– Poi il mondo agricolo e pastorale di Garden City, come
rezione al fallimento della tecnologia;
– Infine il tentativo di creare, da parte di HallowayFerdinand, Buckmaster-Prospero e Olds-Ariel, un
mondo perfettamente organizzato e funzionante.
– Ma tutte queste città sono destinate a fallire in modo tragico e
secondo analogie ben precise.
– Illustrano l’impossibilità per l’essere umano di realizzare
concretamente i propri sogni, forzando sia la natura che la vita.
» PESSIMISMO BALLARDIANO
BALLARDIAN: (adj) 1. of James Graham Ballard (J.G. Ballard; born 1930), the
British novelist, or his works (2) resembling or suggestive of the conditions
described in J.G. Ballard’s novels & stories, esp. dystopian modernity, bleak manmade landscapes & the psychological effects of technological, social or
environmental developments.
(Source: Collins Dictionary)