Dissonant Fabulation: Subverting Online Genres to Effect Socio-Cognitive Dissonance

This paper describes an emerging genre of fictional narratives occurring in online spaces such as e-commerce and social media sites whose generic conventions construct expectations of realism. This genre, termed “dissonant fabulations”, is defined not as a form but as a mode of written communication that uses its genre’s conventions and expectations even while subverting them to inspire social and political questions and discourse. Four case studies are analyzed for their creation of socio-cognitive dissonance leading to social discourse: Amazon.com reviews of BIC Cristal For Her pens; faux Target customer service Facebook profile “Ask ForHelp”; Twitter feed @nexttokimdavis; and Reddit narrative “The Interface Series”. The genre of dissonant fabulations is discussed and contextualized within critical digital intertextual discourse and fictional narratives.