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Purpose
Fictional countries often deliberately resemble or even represent some real-world country or present a utopia or dystopia for commentary. Variants of the country's name sometimes make it clear what country they really have in mind. (Compare semi-fictional countries below.) By using a fictional country instead of a real one, authors can exercise greater freedom in creating characters, events, and settings, while at the same time presenting a vaguely familiar locale that readers can recognize. A fictional country leaves the author unburdened by the restraints of a real nation's actual history, politics, and culture, and can thus allow for greater scope in plot construction.
Writers may create an archetypal fictional "Eastern European", "Middle Eastern", "Asian", "African" or "Latin American" country for the purposes of their story.
Such countries often embody stereotypes about their regions. For example, inventors of a fictional Eastern European country will typically describe it as a former or current Soviet satellite state, or with a suspense story about a royal family; if pre-20th century, it will likely resemble Ruritania or feature copious vampires and other supernatural phenomena. A fictional Middle Eastern state often lies somewhere on the Arabian peninsula, has substantial oil-wealth and problems with radical Islam and will have either a sultan or a mentally-unstable dictator as a ruler. A fictional Latin American country will typically project images of a banana republic beset by constant revolutions, military dictatorships, and coups d'état. A fictional African state will suffer from poverty, civil war and disease.
Modern writers usually do not try to pass off their stories as facts. However, in the early 18th century George Psalmanazar passed himself off as a prince from the island of Formosa (present-day Taiwan) and wrote a fictional description about it to convince his sponsors.
Some larcenous entrepreneurs have also invented fictional countries solely for the purpose of defrauding people. In the 1820s, Gregor MacGregor sold land in the invented country of Poyais. In modern times, the Dominion of Melchizedek and the Kingdom of EnenKio have been accused of this. Many varied financial scams can play out under the aegis of a fictional country, including selling passports and travel documents, and setting up fictional banks and companies with the seeming imprimatur of full government backing.
Fictional countries have also been created for polling purposes. When polled in April of 2004, 10% of British people believed that the fictional country of Luvania would soon join the European Union.[1] In a similar event, two thirds of Hungarians polled in March of 2007 demanded that absolutely no asylum be granted to immigrants from the fictional country of Piresa.[2]
Questionable cases
Countries from stories, myths, legends, that some people have believed to actually exist.
- Atlantis
- Aztlán
- El Dorado
- Lemuria
- Mu (continent)
- Ophir
- Shangri-La or Shambhala
- Xanadu
- Zembla (See Pale Fire)
- Zanj
Books
- Alberto Manguel & Gianni Guadalupi: The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, ISBN 0-15-626054-9
- Brian Stableford: The Dictionary of Science Fiction Places
See also
- List of fictional countries
- Fictional city
- Fictional geography
- Constructed world
- Imaginary country
- Jennifer Government: NationStates
- List of fictional counties
- List of fictional companies
- List of fictional planets
- List of fictional universes
- List of fictional U.S. states
- Proposed country
References
- ^ Haines, Lester (2004-04-29). Brits welcome Luvania to EU. The Register.
- ^ Haines, Lester (2007-03-21). Hungarians demand ejection of Piresan immigrants. The Register.
External links
