Fictitious Countries in Media

Melissa Beattie explores the promises and pitfalls of fabricated nations as a setting and subject of fictional narratives, interrogating the methods and motivations of their creation and, more importantly, who they purport to represent.

Drawing upon aesthetics, industrial analyses, and postcolonial theory, Beattie argues that in (re)combining elements of real nations into constructed ones, we introduce the opportunity for existing perceived-stereotypes to be either subverted or reinforced. As the resulting narratives tend to repackage real discourses about the regions being synthesized, she contends, these media texts often prioritize characters from “real” countries and dominant groups, ultimately replicating existing geopolitical and sociocultural power imbalances.

As Beattie examines portrayals of “nations” that are fictitiously located across the globe as case studies – including “African” nations like “Equatorial Kundu” from The West Wing, “Latin American” countries like “Parador” from Moon Over Parador (1988), “Eastern European” nations like “Sokovia” in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and “post-Soviet” states like “Karastan” in Lost in Karastan (2014) – she highlights how the cultural specificity of each region being “represented” is utilized in Othering that same region.

Ultimately, this book emphasizes the importance of critique and reflection from media theorists, practitioners, students and audiences alike to work toward more ethical representation of the societies and (sub)cultures in which these texts are produced and consumed.