A Mashup World: Hybrids, Crossovers and Post-Reality

In the 21st century, hybrids (such as hybrid war, hybrid regimes, hybrid cars, and hybrid identities, among others) have become all-pervasive, and the computer term mashup has turned into a symbol of hybridity. This book highlights the phenomenon of hybridity and hybridization from a variety of angles and perspectives - in social and cultural practices, education and fiction - and notes the connecting patterns between hybridization in different fields of human endeavour.Perhaps the most important hallmark of our age is the crossover into the virtual. The spread of hybrids in post-reality has snowballed due to the Internet and the ease of the web-based dissemination of information and disinformation. New entities, such as fake news, have been put together using collage techniques with the result that make-believe events produce real-life effects. Without the special analysis provided in this book, this non/reality generated to manipulate people is unlikely to be differentiated from authentic stories.