Whispers in the Echo Chamber : Folklore and the Role of Conspiracy Theory in Contemporary Society.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fivecoate, Jesse A.

Contributor:

Kitta, Andrea.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Conspiracy theories.

Conspiracy theories--Folklore.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (294 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Madison : University of Wisconsin Press, 2025.

Summary:

Whispers in the Echo Chamber: Folklore and the Role of Conspiracy Theory in Contemporary Society makes the case that conspiracy theories are fundamentally a folklore genre, akin to and often involving other belief narratives like rumor and legend. The editors and contributors show that studying conspiracy theories using the tools of folkloristics is a fruitful and necessary analytical exercise. The volume's three parts lay out folkloristic approaches to conspiracy theories; ways folkloristics can help us understand how conspiracy theories are constructed; and how the genre of conspiracy theories interacts with particular, contemporary political contexts.This timely volume complements studies from political science, sociology, psychology, history, and more, while also crucially calling for the field of folklore studies to engage more assertively with conspiracy theories as a genre. Focusing on modern iterations of sometimes quite ancient conspiracy motifs and themes, the editors and contributors forcibly illustrate the crucial relevance of this prevalent and influential form of folklore in today's interconnected world.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

Conspiracy Theory: A Folkloristic Introduction | Jesse A. Fivecoate and Andrea Kitta

Part I. Folkloric Approaches

1. What History Tells Us about QAnon | Bill Ellis

2. Interrogating "Conspiracism" and the Relationship between Historical and Contemporary Conspiracy Theories | David Guignion

3. The SLAP Test and Conspiracy Theories about COVID-19, Bill Gates, and the Denver Airport | Jeannie Banks Thomas

4. QAnon in Four Pieces: Toward a Folkloric Understanding of a Superconspiracy | John Bodner

Part II. (De)Constructing Conspiracy Theories

5. Worse Than the Disease: The Mask Cartoons of Ben Garrison | Ian Brodie

6. Conspiracy Theories as a Form of Literature | Lisa M. Ruch

7. Computational Methods for the Study of Conspiracy Theories | Timothy R. Tangherlini, Shadi Shahsavari, Pavan Holur, and Vwani Roychowdhury

Part III. Circulation and Political Contexts

8. Conspiracy Thinking as Political Boundary Work: COVID-19 Conspiracy Narratives in Iran | Afsane Rezaei

9. I Tell My People the Truth: COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories and the Performance of Vernacular Authority in Religious Social Networks in Malawi | Anika Wilson

10. When a Demonology Meets Live-Action Role-Play: QAnon and the Creation of a Social Media Witch Scare | Sandra Grady

11. Can Narratives Counteract Conspiratorial Thinking? | Darin DeWitt and Matthew D. Atkinson

Contributors

Index.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780299350635

0299350630

OCLC:

1482264643