Beginning with a most basic question, “what is fiction?,” this course will ask how fiction is defined against reality, and how a stable distinction, between truth and lies, verisimilitude and simulation, is difficult, if not impossible, to maintain. Is there a reality outside of fiction? Can fiction fortify or critique what we take to be reality? How do narrative techniques marshal belief in the stories they tell and the images they present? This course will focus on philosophical, theoretical, literary, and cultural texts, including films, works of art, and journalism, from Nietzsche and Marx, to Henry James and Nella Larsen. We will consider such phenomena as AI and Chat GPT, as well as social media, television, and the biological/cultural scripts of race, gender, and nation. The course is recommended for students interested in advanced topics in theory and criticism.