Utopia in progress in di Prima¿s revolutionary letttters

© Purdue University.In her article ¿Utopia in Progress in di Prima¿s Revolutionary Letters¿ Estíbaliz Encarnación- Pinedo describes Diane di Prima¿s Revolutionary Letters (1971) within the context of social transformation and spatiality studies. In the context of the socio-political revolt and utopian revival of the 1970s, di Prima¿s utopia is grounded in reality and in progress; and it needs people¿s help and strength to be attained. In the first section of the article Pinedo analyzes a group of letters which serve as ¿tips¿ or a ¿how-to¿ guide to prepare for a revolution and in the second part she considers letters in which glimpses of a post-revolutionary utopian society are offered. These two aspects create a space which is both socially-formed and transformed. In this light, di Prima¿s revolution is read as a heterotopia, as a place of resistance used to move towards utopia.