Plots: Literary Form and Conspiracy Culture PDF
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Plots: Literary Form and Conspiracy Culture This edited collection contributes to the study of conspiracy culture by ana- lysing the relationship of literary forms to the formation, reception, and transformation of conspiracy theories. Conspiracy theories are narratives, and their narrative form provides the structure within which their ‘readers’ situate themselves when interpreting the world and its history. At the same time, conspiracist interpretations of the world may then be transmediated into works of literature and import popular discourse into narrative structures. The suppression and disappear- ance of books themselves may generate conspiracy theories and become co- opted into political dissent. Additionally, literary criticism itself is shown to adopt conspiracist modes of interpretation. By examining conspiracy plots as literary plots, with narrative, rhetorical, and symbolic characteristics, this volume is the first systematic study of how conspiracy culture in American and European history is the consequence of its interactions with literature. This book will be of great interest to researchers of conspiracy theories, literature, and literary criticism. Ben Carver is a writing instructor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He researches and writes about speculative literature. His publications study the hopes and fears of 19th-Century alternate history, invasion and conspiracy fiction, and lost- world narratives. Dana Craciun teaches 20th- Century Literature and American Studies at the West University of Timișoara, Romania. Her other research interests include post- 9/ 11 crises of representation, critical theory, and, more recently, con- spiracy theories. Todor Hristov teaches Critical Theory and Cultural Studies at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. He is the author of books on conspiracy theories, literary theory, governmentality, social movements, and cultural studies, as well as articles on biopolitics, governmentality, critical political economy, and new social movements. Conspiracy Theories Series Editors: Peter Knight, University of Manchester, and Michael Butter, University of Tübingen Conspiracy theories have a long history and exist in all modern societies. However, their visibility and significance are increasing today. Conspiracy theories can no longer be simply dismissed as the product of a pathological mind- set located on the political margins. This series provides a nuanced and scholarly approach to this most con- tentious of subjects. It draws on a range of disciplinary perspectives including political science, sociology, history, media and cultural studies, area studies and behavioural sciences. Issues covered include the psychology of conspiracy theories, changes in conspiratorial thinking over time, the role of the Internet, regional and political variations and the social and political impact of con- spiracy theories. The series will include edited collections, single-a uthored monographs and short- form books. Conspiracy Theories and the Nordic Countries Anastasiya Astapova, Eirikur Bergmann, Asbjørn Dyrendal, Annika Rabo, Kasper Grotle Rasmussen, Hulda Thórisdóttir, Andreas Önnerfors Europe: Continent of Conspiracies Conspiracy Theories in and about Europe Edited by Andreas Önnerfors and André Krouwel Russia Today and Conspiracy Theories People, Power and Politics on RT Ilya Yablokov and Precious N Chatterje- Doody Conspiracy Theories and Latin American History Lurking in the Shadows Luis Roniger and Leonardo Senkman Plots: Literary Form and Conspiracy Culture Edited by Ben Carver, Dana Craciun and Todor Hristov Plots: Literary Form and Conspiracy Culture Edited by Ben Carver, Dana Craciun and Todor Hristov First published 2022 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2022 selection and editorial matter, Ben Carver, Dana Craciun and Todor Hristov; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Ben Carver, Dana Craciun and Todor Hristov to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Names: Carver, Ben, 1972– editor. | Crăciun, Dana, editor. | Hristov, Todor (Hristov Dechev) editor. Title: Plots : literary form and conspiracy culture / edited by Ben Carver, Dana Craciun and Todor Hristov. Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2022. | Series: Conspiracy theories | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021024281 (print) | LCCN 2021024282 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367500696 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367500702 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003048657 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Conspiracies in literature. | Fiction–Stories, plots, etc. | Conspiracy theories. Classification: LCC PN56.C56 P56 2022 (print) | LCC PN56.C56 (ebook) | DDC 809.93355–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024281 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021024282 ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 50069- 6 (hbk) ISBN: 978- 0- 367- 50070- 2 (pbk) ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 04865- 7 (ebk) DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003048657 Typeset in Times New Roman by Newgen Publishing UK Contents Notes on contributors vii Opening considerations 1 1 Introduction 3 TODOR HRISTOV 2 ‘Turning points’: plots in conspiracy and literature 17 BEN CARVER SECTION 1 Conspiracy theories about books and authors 35 3 Erich Auerbach’s conspiracy theory 37 JOHN W. ROBERTS 4 In pursuit of nationhood vis- à- vis Russia: the search for lost manuscripts in post- Soviet countries 54 ANASTASIYA ASTAPOVA 5 Conspiracy reading: new literary perspectives on paranoia in Thomas Pynchon 72 INGER H. DALSGAARD SECTION 2 Plotting: narrative forms of conspiracy 89 6 ‘The cash nexus’: realism and conspiracy in Balzac and Dickens 91 BEN CARVER vi Contents 7 Conspiracy narratives in serialized comics: an exploration 110 ALEJANDRO ROMERO RECHE 8 Conspiracy narratives and American apocalypticism in The Turner Diaries 130 STEPHEN JOYCE SECTION 3 Fictional disclosures: conspiracy and the politics of truth 145 9 Suspicious fictions: the fictionalizing acts in a conspiracist novel 147 TODOR HRISTOV 10 Half- truths: on an instrument of post- truth politics (and conspiracy narratives) 164 NICOLA GESS 11 Men make their own history: conspiracy as counter- narrative in the German political field 179 CAROLIN AMLINGER Index 200 Notes on contributors Carolin Amlinger is a Postdoctoral Assistant in the Department of Linguistics and Literary Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She is working on a research project on half-t ruths. Her research focuses on ideology the- ories, postmodernism and post- truth, and sociology of literature. Anastasiya Astapova is a Research Fellow in the Department of Estonian and Comparative Folklore at the University of Tartu, Estonia. She has published more than 30 peer- reviewed works on student humour and Belarusian political folklore and nationalism. Ben Carver is a writing instructor at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He researches and writes about speculative literature. His publications study the hopes and fears of C19 alternate history, invasion and conspiracy fiction, and lost- world narratives. Dana Craciun teaches 20th- Century Literature and American Studies at the West University of Timișoara, Romania. Her other research interests include post- 9/ 11 crises of representation, critical theory, and, more recently, conspiracy theories. Inger H. Dalsgaard is an Associate Professor in American Studies at Aarhus University, Denmark. She is the author of numerous essays, and (co-) editor of two books, on Thomas Pynchon. Nicola Gess is a Professor of German and Comparative Literature at Basel University, Switzerland. She is also Director of the multi- disciplinary research project ‘Half- Truths. Truth, Fiction and Conspiracy in the Post- Factual Age’. She works, among other topics, on ‘post-f actual’ discourse and conspiracy theories. Todor Hristov teaches Critical Theory and Cultural Studies at the University of Sofia, Bulgaria. He is the author of books on conspiracy theories, lit- erary theory, governmentality, social movements, and cultural studies, as well as articles on biopolitics, governmentality, critical political economy, and new social movements. newgenprepdf viii Notes on contributors Stephen Joyce is an Associate Professor in Literature, Media, and Communications in the Department of English at Aarhus University, Denmark. He is the author of one book and several articles on the wide- spread appeal of apocalyptic narratives in contemporary culture. John W. Roberts is an independent scholar based in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. His research focuses on the relationship between aesthetics and specula- tion in visual culture, and his work has appeared in the Journal of InVisible Culture, the Hitchcock Annual, and In Media Res. Alejandro Romero Reche teaches Contemporary Social Theory and Electoral Sociology at the University of Granada, Spain. In addition to his schol- arly work on the sociologies of humour and knowledge, as a comics writer he has published an illustrated book on Spanish right- wing conspiracy theories. Opening considerations
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