Apocalyptic Actors and Historical Trajectories in Mythic Discourse of Conspiracism
Contemporary conspiracism draws on both long-standing traditions and the current cultural and political environment as it constructs mythic knowledge that often includes apocalyptic prophecies. Such knowledge is constantly altered and reinterpreted by the conspiracy activists who invest in its trans...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
|
| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Brill
2024
|
| In: |
Numen
Year: 2024, Volume: 71, Issue: 5/6, Pages: 548-577 |
| Further subjects: | B
Discourse Analysis
B conspiracism B Myth B Apocalypticism B Late Modernity |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | Contemporary conspiracism draws on both long-standing traditions and the current cultural and political environment as it constructs mythic knowledge that often includes apocalyptic prophecies. Such knowledge is constantly altered and reinterpreted by the conspiracy activists who invest in its transmission and reproduction. This article examines how conspiracist mythologies emerge in the use of these activists as mythic discourse that fluidly adapts both to include past sources and to comment on late modern phenomena. Illustrative cases of Christian and popular millennial conspiracist narratives are analyzed in terms of how they construct the actors, organizations, power positions, and historical trajectories of the world. The article highlights how different conspiracist myths share features and stances, influenced by the currents of late modernity, but also contest each other based on what their sources and purposes are, and how they differ in their evaluation of the apocalyptic event’s nature. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1568-5276 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Numen
|
| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15685276-20240017 |