Overview

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.  Jesse A. Fivecoate and Andrea Kitta’s 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 fully with conspiracy theories as a genre. Focusing on modern iterations of sometimes quite ancient conspiracy motifs and themes, the volume forcibly illustrates the crucial relevance of this prevalent and influential form of folklore in today’s interconnected world.

Full Product Details

Author:   Jesse A. Fivecoate ,  Andrea Kitta
Publisher:   University of Wisconsin Press
Imprint:   University of Wisconsin Press
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780299350604

ISBN 10:   0299350606
Pages:   302
Publication Date:   31 January 2025
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Conspiracy Theory: A Folkloristic Introduction Part I. Folkloric Approaches 1 What History Tells Us about QAnon Bill Ellis 2 Interrogating “Conspiracism” and the Relationship between Historical and Contemporary Conspiracy David Guignion Theories 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

Reviews

"""A substantial contribution that makes the important point that conspiracy theories are traditional and performative--a form of folk narrative. Showing these linkages gives this volume a particular power.""--Gary Alan Fine, author of Tiny Publics: A Theory of Group Culture and Action ""This book is a welcome addition, enlarging and deepening our understanding of conspiracy theories: accusatory, vernacular products, shaped by our new media, that worryingly provide the wrong answers even to the right questions.""--V�ronique Camp�on-Vincent, author of Organ Theft Legends"

Author Information

Jesse A. Fivecoate, a folklorist and sociocultural anthropologist with a PhD from Indiana University, studies the use of communal belief narratives that circulate within a group as a way of remembering and discussing episodes of conflict and crisis. He is a coeditor of Advancing Folkloristics. Andrea Kitta is a folklorist and a professor of multicultural and transnational literature in the Department of English at East Carolina University. She is the author of Vaccinations and Public Concern in History: Legend, Rumor, and Risk Perception and The Kiss of Death: Contamination, Contagion, and Folklore as well as a coeditor of Diagnosing Folklore: Perspectives on Health, Trauma, and Disability.

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