Lower Slobbovia (also sometimes Outer, Inner, Central, Upper or Lowest Slobbovia) is a
fictional country
A fictional country is a country that is made up for fictional stories, and does not exist in real life, or one that people believe in without proof.
Sailors have always mistaken low clouds for land masses, and in later times this was given ...
portrayed as underdeveloped, socially backward, remote, impoverished or unenlightened. First coined by Al Capp in 1946, the term has also been used by Americans to refer in an informal way to any foreign country of no particular distinction.
Li'l Abner
''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbilly, hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written a ...
'' (1934–1977). Making its first appearance on April 4, 1946, frigid, faraway Lower Slobbovia was fashioned as a pointedly political satire of backward nations and foreign diplomacy. The term, having entered the language, remains a contemporary reference.
In ''Li'l Abner'', the hapless residents of Lower Slobbovia were perpetually waist-deep in snow, and icicles hung from every frostbitten nose. The favorite dish of the starving natives was raw polar bear (and vice versa). Lower Slobbovians spoke with burlesquepidgin-
Russian
Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including:
*Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...
accents; the miserable frozen wasteland of Capp's invention abounded in incongruous
Yiddish
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ve ...
humor. General Bullmoose or Senator Jack S. Phogbound—Capp's caricatures of ruthless business interests and corrupt political interests, respectively—were often pitted against the pathetic Lower Slobbovians in a classic mismatch of ''haves'' versus ''have-nots''.
Capp conceived Slobbovia as a large iceberg. As real icebergs at intervals have their larger subsea components erode away, causing genuine icebergs to invert, so Slobbovia periodically overturned, making Upper Slobbovia into Lower Slobbovia & vice versa. Upper Slobbovia was the only habitat of the Schmeagles, birds who flew so fast they could not be seen.
Conceptually based on
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive region, geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a ...
, or perhaps specifically on
Birobidzhan
Birobidzhan ( rus, Биробиджа́н, p=bʲɪrəbʲɪˈdʐan; yi, ביראָבידזשאַן, ''Birobidzhan'') is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast, Russia, locat ...
, Capp's icy hellhole was ruled by King Stubbornovsky the Last (a.k.a. Good King Nogoodnik). The Slobbovian politicians were even more corrupt than their
Dogpatch
Dogpatch was the fictional setting of cartoonist Al Capp's classic comic strip ''Li'l Abner'' (1934–1977).
''Li'l Abner'' comic strip
The inhabitants of Dogpatch were mostly lazy hillbillies, who usually wanted nothing to do with progress. ...
counterparts. Their monetary unit was the "Rasbucknik", of which one was worth nothing, and a large quantity was worth even less, due to the trouble of lugging them around. Conditions couldn't be worse, as tourists were readily assured by the miserable, highly vocal residents.
Besides biting political satire, Capp employed black humor, irony, social commentary, parody and slapstick in his Slobbovia stories; the series featured many memorable moments over the years.
Lena the Hyena
Basil Wolverton (July 9, 1909 – December 31, 1978) at the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
journalist
Quentin Reynolds
Quentin James Reynolds (April 11, 1902 – March 17, 1965) was an American journalist and World War II war correspondent. He also played American football for one season in the National Football League (NFL) with the Brooklyn Lions.
Early life ...
). The local children were read harrowing tales from ''Ice-sop's Fables'', which were parodies of classic literary fables (with titles like "Goldilocks and the Three Bares" and "Liddle Blue Ridink Hood"), but with a darkly sardonic twist.
Liddle Noodnik, a local waif, was frequently employed to recite a farcical poem of greeting to visiting dignitaries, or sing the absurd Slobbovian national anthem
Slobbovia
Slobbovia was a postal ''Diplomacy'' variant played among science fiction and gaming fans in North America and Europe from 1972 to 1986. The game was published in Slobinpolit Zhurnal (Слобинполит Журнал).
It was unique among ...