fictionand

Fictionand is a neologism used in literary and media criticism to describe works that blend fictional narrative with elements traditionally associated with nonfiction and documentary practices. The term signals a hybridity across genres rather than a fixed category, and its usage varies by context.

Etymology and history: The word combines fiction with the conjunction and to highlight cross-genre blending. It emerged in online discourse and scholarly writing during the 2010s and 2020s, without a single canonical definition or author. It appears in discussions of contemporary novels, films, podcasts, and interactive media that present invented material alongside archival documents, transcripts, or real-world data.

Forms and examples: In fictionand works, a narrative may incorporate invented documents, footnotes, or journals that imitate or repurpose real sources. Nonfictional research methods can be used to construct plausible settings while the plot remains fictional. Projects may also employ alternate reality game mechanics, mixed-media storytelling, or quasi-journalistic reporting to frame invented events.

Relation to related concepts and reception: Critics note that fictionand challenges readers to assess veracity and authorship while expanding narrative possibilities. Proponents see it as a means to explore truth-making in media; detractors worry about blurred lines between fact and fiction. The concept overlaps with autofiction, docudrama, and metafiction but emphasizes the deliberate integration of documentary techniques into fiction or vice versa.

See also: autofiction; documentary fiction; metafiction; docudrama; narrative nonfiction.