Plot and complot: the impasse of narrativization, poor cognitive mapping and conspiracy theories

Abstract

This paper attempts to disclose the meaning of the contemporary spread of conspiracy theories by pursuing Frederic Jameson’s suggestion that conspiracy theories are symptoms of an impoverished “cognitive mapping.” For that purpose, I translate the problem of cognitive mapping into a larger question of narrativity, in dialogue with the flourishing field of narrative ethics, and interpret it through the lens of critical theory and psychoanalysis. Briefly, I contend that conspiracy theories are surrogate narratives to cope with the contemporary societies’ opacity and the consequent deficiency in self-narrativization.