"The utopian alternatives writers imagine are affected by numerous variables, such as the historical circumstances in which they write, their gender and class background, not to mention psychological factors. These variables in turn give rise to a bewildering assortment of imagined social structures." "Yet for all this diversity, one thing that exhibits far less variation is the story, the framing narrative that accounts for how the narrator or central character reaches the more perfect society and obtains the opportunity to witness its distinctive excellences." "Narrating Utopia is about that story. It is about the curious hybrid of the traveller's tale and the classical dialogue that emerges in the Renaissance, but whose outlines remain clearly apparent even in some of the most recent utopian writing. In this study Chris Ferns investigates the ideological implications of that story, its relation to the nature of utopian desire, and the problems it continues to create even for writers who try to free themselves from its limitations."--BOOK JACKET.