Why Are There Fake News?
There’s a question that has suddenly become relevant. But just because the question has acquired momentum, it doesn’t mean fake news is a new thing. It’s all about narrative, affect, and control. Here’s a piece of fake news that’s already a couple of thousand years old: “God comes to earth in the body of his own son [sic], he is crucified, he is resurrected [by his own self, presumably?] and everyone is suddenly absolved [from the fact that a woman supposedly once ate a goddamn apple].
As a narrative, this fake news has a linear progression, but with plenty of intertextuality, which enhances its appeal. Crucially, it also has a personal-experience perspective. It’s not just about some random nameless character in a galaxy far-far away, but about you – yes, you, you sinner! As a result, it has great affective power, and is therefore effective in its mission: To exercise control over the populace.
The Discovered-Manuscript Trope of Gothic Fiction
Whoa, I hear you say. What kind of a leap was that? How did we get from fake news to Gothic fiction? Bare with me, and you’ll see.
