Conspiracy is a narration (but also a confabulation)

  • Ugo Volli
Keywords: Conspiracy, Narration, Confabulation, Blood Libel, Semiotics

Abstract

Starting from a lexicological analysis, a general model of the conspiracy figure is identified: a secret narrative program with respect to the gaze of the implicit recipient of the narrative, harmful and evil with respect to the same point of view, conceived by people who are described as a group (foreign but camouflaged) united by certain characteristics. The narrative dimension is therefore considered, showing that in every conspiracy story there is a complex enunciation structure, made up of layers: that of the alleged perpetrators of the conspiracy, of those who tell them as such, of those who possibly unmask this narrative. This model is applied to an important historical case, that of the “slander of the blood” applied for the first time to the Jews of Norwich in 1144.

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Published
2022-09-17
How to Cite
Volli, U. (2022) “Conspiracy is a narration (but also a confabulation)”, Rivista Italiana di Filosofia del Linguaggio. doi: 10.4396/SFL2021A15.