Dystopian Eugenics and Mestizo Futurisms in Eduardo Urzaiz'sEugenia

Abstract

Set in 2218, the novel Eugenia envisions a contradictory utopian and dystopian future premised upon eugenical engineering. Here, I analyse Urzaiz's vision of the beginnings of eugenics in Mexico. Ultimately, I argue that Villautopia is presented as ever-vigilant and always responding to threats of degeneracy and social disorder, which accurately the reflect eugenicist underpinnings of Urzaiz's time. An analysis of Urzaiz himself and the Yucatán context is key as it envisions, translates and produces new eugenic ideas that deterritorialise eugenics and portrays it both in a 'positive' way while providing a series of 'negative' possibilities as a probable outcome.