*CFP* “HOW TO READ CONSPIRACY THEORIES: FORMS, STYLES, NARRATIVES”, EDITED COLLECTION

Most second-hand bookstores have one or two shelves for books that have been categorized as Conspiracy Theories. Such books are deemed too inaccurate to count as “History,” too unacademic to qualify as “Sociology,” or too fringe to be shelved as “Politics.” The “Conspiracy Theories” shelf is a tangible reminder of conspiracism’s epistemological status as “stigmatized knowledge” (Barkun, 2003).

For this edited collection, contributors will (figuratively) take books from the “Conspiracy Theories” shelf to determine what type of formal and stylistic characteristics (if any) distinguish “conspiracy theory texts” from more acceptable forms of knowledge. Contributors are free to work with an elastic and expansive definition of “conspiracy theory text” that incorporates various media, such as radio, blogging, film, etc. Contributors can propose methods for interpreting and investigating conspiracy theories, as well as engage in sustained critical analyses and close readings of specific conspiracy theory texts. I am especially interested in submissions that critique the reception and stigmatization of conspiracy theories or investigate the histories and practices of conspiracy theory publishing. 

Possible topics of interest include (but are not limited to): 

• Interpretations of conspiracy theory films, such as Alex Jones’ Endgame (2007) and Peter Joseph’s Zeitgeist (2007)
• Collaborative conspiracy texts, i.e. Pizzagate, r/conspiracy, etc.  
• Histories of the “stigmatization” of conspiracy theories
• Journalistic encounters with conspiracy theories and conspiracy theorists, such as Jon Ronson’s Them (2001) or Anna Merlan’s Republic of Lies (2019)
• Warranted conspiracy theory texts, i.e. All the President’s Men (1974) by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward  
• Analysis of conspiracist classics, such as Nesta Webster’s The World Revolution (1921), Gary Allen None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1972), John A. Coleman’s The Conspirator’s Hierarchy: The Committee of 300 (1992).. 
• Conspiracy theorists and conceptions of authorship 
• Particularistic readings of conspiracy theory texts (as discussed in Taking Conspiracy Theories Seriously, ed. M R. X. Dentith) 
• Contrast between conspiracy theory and “conspiracy-without-the-theory” 
• Conspiracy theory and Social Media 
• Conspiracy theories and blogging 
• Conspiracy theories and narratology 
• Conspiracy theories and intertextuality
• Stylistic and formal strategies of conspiracy theory texts
• Conspiracy theory and radio, i.e. Coast to Coast AM and Infowars

Researchers at all stages and types of institutional or non-institutional status are welcomed. Abstracts of 300 words and a short biography should be submitted to Andrew Woods at awoods42@uwo.ca by January 31st, 2020.