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Article published In:
Real Fictions: Fictionality, factuality and narrative strategies in contemporary storytelling
Edited by Sam Browse, Alison Gibbons and Mari Hatavara
[Narrative Inquiry 29:2] 2019
► pp. 293–312

Making fiction out of fact

Attention and belief in the discourse of conspiracy

| Sheffield Hallam University

This article explores fictionality within the context of the discourse of conspiracy. In particular it examines the phenomenon of ‘false flag’ narratives: alternative versions of an event constructed by individuals who have become convinced that a news story has in fact been staged for malfeasant purposes. The article uses figure-ground analysis, which facilitates examination of how attention is distributed within a text. Specifically, it enables an examination of the prominence and salience that is afforded to particular elements within a text, and how this can be used to construct a fiction out of facts. The article problematises the notion of using a pragmatic assessment of authorial intention to establish the fictive or nonfictive status of a text. Finally, it proposes that more work needs to be undertaken in considering instances where authors either do not know or are conflicted about what they believe.

Keywords: conspiracy, false flag, figure-ground, burying, attention, belief, cognitive stylistics, Sandy Hook, Charlottesville
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Fictionality and belief
  • Conspiracy theories and false flags
  • The videos: Data and methods
  • Context: Sandy Hook and Charlottesville
  • Figure-ground analysis
  • ‘Keep that in mind for later’
  • Physical resemblance
  • ‘Distance resemblance’
  • Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 16 October 2019
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ni.19023.mas
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