Introduction

This part introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters. The part demonstrates that verbalised conspiracy stories about the Other – varying from alien tribes, ethnic groups or nations conspiring against the ingroup – are continuously re-invented and adapted to a local context. It discusses the problem of agency and epistemic certainty in twentieth-century American fiction and examines the networked nature of visualised conspiracy theories in modern art. The part explains the shift from a straightforward representation of conspiracy to self-reflexive negotiations of conspiracy theory in movies and television shows. On the Internet, then, there is ample space for citizens to post, share, modify and appropriate conspiracy theories via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other digital platforms. Consequently, literature, film, games or social media are seldom analysed in terms of their media-specific traits and the way the shape the content, form and transmission of conspiracy theories.