intimatopia

English

Etymology

Blend of intimate +‎ utopia; originally coined by literary scholar Elizabeth Woledge in her essay "Intimatopia: genre intersections between slash and the mainstream" (2006) to describe the setting in a certain subset of slash fiction.

Noun

intimatopia (usually uncountable, plural intimatopias)

1. A fantasy world that serves as an ideal setting for sexually charged relationships involving a high degree of sustained emotional intimacy.
   • 2006, Elizabeth Woledge, "Intimatopia: genre intersections between slash and the mainstream", chapter 3 (pages 97–114) in Karen Hellekson and Kristina Busse, editors (2006), Fan fiction and fan communities in the age of the Internet: new essays, (Jefferson, North Carolina, USA: McFarland), →ISBN, page 106:

     The crucial difference between romantopia and intimatopia is that in intimatopia, intimacy is normally established before sexual interaction and is always maintained after it, whereas in romantopia, it is only established by sexual interaction and is frequently transitory.

   • 2007, Helena Štěpánová (2007), Slash fan fiction and the canon(PDF), BA thesis, Department of English and American Studies, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic (retrieved 2017-11-30; from the original 2017-11-30), pages 20–21:

     Lovers in intimatopia are more than “just good friends” but also more than “just lovers” – the emotional, physical and spiritual bond between them is complex and multilayered (Woledge 102).

   • 2009, Joseph Carl Linden Brennan (October 2009), I am your worst fear, I am your best fantasy: new approaches to slash fiction (PDF), BA honors thesis, Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney (retrieved 2017-11-29; archived from the original 2017-11-29), page 66:

     In opposition to romantopia and intimatopia and their respective romance and intimacy foci, paratopia’s interest in the fantastic is more radical.

Derived terms

• intimatopic

See also

• pornotopia
• romantopia