At first, it was nothing more than a jab at Americans and their supposed lack of knowledge of geography. “I’m pretty sure Americans don’t even know the name of this country,” Twitter user Gaspardo said on October 30, accompanying a map with a red arrow pointing to the slab of land generously added to Spain and Portugal and colored green. implying it was a member state of the E.U. Another user immediately responded: “Who doesn’t know Listenbourg?” — and the meme was born.
What happened next?
At the time of writing, the post has garnered more than 95,000 likes and thousands of shares on Twitter. Meanwhile, some decided to take trolling to another level, claiming the place was actually real. A high-definition satellite map replaced the original one, while on Reddit, a channel quickly appeared, claiming that Listenbourg has its own Formula 1 Grand Prix and that its astronauts were part of a mission to the Moon. Others quickly organized around what they claim is an “extreme centrist party”, whose leader has pledged to “improve Listenburg’s image abroad”, while the alleged Home Office has already offered to answer any questions about the documents. his identity and visas. Another post on Twitter claimed that the King of Listenbourg, Listen XV, was actually the first Sun King, going to war against Louis XIV for the prestigious title in 1661. A national anthem along with a red and white flag with a golden eagle appeared on YouTube almost instantly on a purportedly official Listenbourg government account. The French Wikipedia entry for the Republic of Listenbourg, which further elaborates on its supposed history, has since been removed. While it’s all fictional, social media users aren’t giving up and big, professional accounts like Toulouse Football Club’s got all on board with the meme. The joke of the Formula 1 race was noticed and supported by Julien Febreau, a well-known French sports commentator for Canal+, and others, such as the French national hockey team, are asking Listenbourg to join the international competitions.
Why did the joke become so big in France and Europe?
Like many other European countries and regions, France has fallen victim to geographic misperceptions by US-based outlets. In 2005, CNN famously mistakenly placed Toulouse and Strasbourg in Switzerland and Germany. CNN also placed Ukraine’s Donbas region in Pakistan — an entire continent away — after war first broke out in the Eastern European country in 2014. Slovakia and Slovenia are so often confused with each other that the latter considered redesigning its flag in 2004 to help avoid any future confusion. And after the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing suspects were identified as being of Chechen background, a series of comments by those mistaking Chechnya for the Czech Republic forced the Czech ambassador to the US to publicly clarify the difference between the two places.
What are other famous fake countries?
Molvania is a prime example of another completely made-up state created to highlight the lack of awareness – and tact – when it comes to lesser-known parts of the world. The fictional post-Soviet state described as the “birthplace of whooping cough” was an on-the-nose creation by a group of Australian comedians known as The D-Generation, published as a travel guide to poke fun at colonial and imperial approaches. in kind. Similarly, Yugoslavia – a non-existent country that arose from a misnomer for both Yugoslavia and Slovakia – is used as a joking dismissal of those with faulty knowledge of Central and Eastern Europe, getting an occasional laugh from those in the know on social media. Borduria and Syldavia, both fictional Balkan countries featured in the Adventures of Tintin graphic novel, are also worth mentioning as places used to emphasize stereotypes about the southeastern parts of the continent. And then there is Absurdistan, a term used by Soviet dissidents to describe parts or all of the USSR and its satellite states, most notably by former Czech president Vaclav Havel. A few unrecognized microstates also deserve to be included, such as the impromptu Kingdom of Wallachia in the Czech Republic, the result of an elaborate practical joke in 1997. A well-known example of such countries includes Lithuania’s Republic of Užupis in Vilnius, where residents of the neighborhood declared their own state, complete with a flag, currency, constitution and president. There is also the Free Republic of Liberland, created by Czech politician and activist Vít Jedlička after the breakup of Yugoslavia. Said to be located on a piece of land on the Danube between Croatia and Serbia, Liberland has its own flag, anthem and constitution, and Jedlička has been issuing the minority’s citizenships and passports since 2015.
