ˈfækʃən noun (Lifestyle
and Leisure) A
blend of
fact and
fiction,
especially when used as a
literary genre, in film-making,
etc.;
documentary fiction.
Also, a
book,
film, etc.
that uses
this technique.
Etymology: Formed by telescoping
the words fact and fiction to
make a blend.
History and
Usage: The
word was invented in the
late sixties, when
there was a
fashion for novels based on real or
historical events. In the eighties, the
term was also
applied to the dramatized
television documentaries
sometimes called docudramas or drama-docs (see
doc, docu-). The
adjective used to
describe a
work of this kind is
factional or factionalized; the process of combining fact and fiction
into a
narrative is factionalization.
His Merseyside is
vivid enough,
every bit as 'real' as
those fictionalised documentaries we are
learning to
call 'faction'.
Listener 30
June 1983, p. 16 Factional
drama will be discussed in
detail at a
BBC seminar. The Times 13
July 1988, p. 1 Humphrey's... No Resting Place...offers a factionalised
account of
Indian history. Literary
Review Aug. 1989, p. 14
