When reality looks like fiction: Covid-19 and apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction
With the world in the grip of Covid-19, life is looking like something out of a novel from the apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction genres. This is not particularly surprising considering that reality informs fiction and fiction reflects reality. The first time I felt I were living in an apocalyptic fiction novel was when out of control bushfires threatened my property in January of this year, but the threat receded and left me and my property unharmed. And even during the event, the world and the rest of Australia continued as normal, so – even though it felt like it to those who lived through it – the fires weren’t truly an apocalyptic event. The Australian fires were catastrophic, but they were restricted to one area of the world, whereas a truly apocalyptic event effects the whole world or large portions of it. The word apocalypse, according to the Oxford…