A revenant subject dating back to H. G. Wells’ 1898 novel and subsequently reformulated in a number of different media versions, the "War of the Worlds"’ alien invasion has been time-servingly adapted to different historical contexts particularly soaked with paranoia and socio-political uncertainty. Inevitably, the 9/11 2001 attack on the Twin Towers has been seen as the apocalyptic realization of that literary fantasy. The essay shows the unstability of the border between fiction and fact by pointing at the incredible variety of fictoids (persuasive lies serving the cause of propaganda) which have since then reshaped events into (mediatic) fantasy.
Wars of the Worlds: between Fiction and Fictoid
ESPOSITO, Lucia
2004-01-01
Abstract
A revenant subject dating back to H. G. Wells’ 1898 novel and subsequently reformulated in a number of different media versions, the "War of the Worlds"’ alien invasion has been time-servingly adapted to different historical contexts particularly soaked with paranoia and socio-political uncertainty. Inevitably, the 9/11 2001 attack on the Twin Towers has been seen as the apocalyptic realization of that literary fantasy. The essay shows the unstability of the border between fiction and fact by pointing at the incredible variety of fictoids (persuasive lies serving the cause of propaganda) which have since then reshaped events into (mediatic) fantasy.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
