ABSTRACT
A rumor's eternal return attests to the realization, on the basis of propitious events, of an explanatory system deeply embedded in collective consciousness. The theme of the famine conspiracy has not, moreover, altogether disappeared from one's mentality: it has simply shifted from wheat, of which the West produces a surplus, to raw materials. The eternal return of rumors is tied to the fate of scapegoats. All societies experience their serious crises as punishment: one must thus seek out whipping boys who are unconsciously taken to be responsible for the community's sins. The typology of rumors led to the distinction of several typical situations that are propitious to the production of rumors. When signs whose meaning is well known are uncovered by front-runners or insiders who hurriedly speak about it in private; when ambiguous events create an unsatisfied demand for answers; when a highly sensitive social body spontaneously speaks up to express itself in isolation from any particular event.
