fictionalacademic

Fictionalacademic is a term used in creative writing and cultural studies to describe a constructed scholarly persona or a mode of inquiry that treats invented material as if it were genuine research. The concept encompasses both a literary device and a disciplinary stance, where fiction is analyzed, cited, and discussed with the conventions of academe, including bibliographies, methodological sections, and peer-review rhetoric.

Origins of the term are informal; it emerged in online writing communities and collaborative fiction projects in the early 21st century as a metacritical tool to explore authority, representation, and the boundaries between truth and fiction. It is often employed in workshops, speculative fiction, and metafictional literature to interrogate epistemology and the performative nature of scholarly writing.

Typical features include a formal tone, the use of invented or fictitious sources, and explicit framing that the material is fictional or hypothetical. Writers may present fictional breakthroughs, conferences, or journals to reveal how knowledge is constructed and what counts as evidence. Paratextual devices such as footnotes, acknowledgments, or mock-ethical approvals are common.

Practices labeled as fictionalacademic are usually self-aware and designed to provoke reflection rather than to deceive about real-world claims. Critics stress the importance of clear labeling to avoid confusion with actual scholarship, viewing it as a creative exercise that can illuminate how scholarship constructs legitimacy.

See also: metafiction; pseudo-scholarship; paratext; epistemic fiction.