Absurdistan


Absurdistan is a term sometimes used to satirically describe a country in which absurdity is the norm due to the ubiquity and incompetence of its bureaucracy. The expression was originally used by Eastern bloc dissidents to refer to parts of the Soviet Union and its satellite states, but has remained common in post-communist discourse as well.

Origins

The first known printed use of the word "Absurdistan" appeared in 1971 in the German monthly Politische Studien "... erkennen wir, dass wir uns hier in Absurdistan bewegen". Later, in Czech, the term Absurdistán was used by dissident and later president Václav Havel. This seems to indicate that use of the term began during perestroika. The first recorded printed use of the term in English was in Spectator in an article on August 26, 1989, about Czechoslovakia On September 18, 1989, an article in The Nation was called Prague Summer of '89: Journey to Absurdistan. On August 30, 1990, The New York Times used it in an article about the Soviet Union, and a January 18, 1990, Village Voice interview with Havel by Bonnie Sue Stein and Vit Horejs was headlined "The New King of Absurdistan".

Other uses

After its original reference to countries like Afghanistan, Kazakhstan and others ending in -stan in ironical use for the collapsing Eastern bloc, the term was extended to other countries. The term has been used in several titles of movies, books, and articles: