Can conspiracy theories ever be plausible? The role of narrative rationality in the assessment of online conspiracy theories

Basit Öğe Kaydı
dc.authorid0000-0002-7542-0179
dc.contributor.authorTurner, Hossein
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-08T15:15:37Z
dc.date.available2026-02-08T15:15:37Z
dc.date.issued2025
dc.departmentBursa Teknik Üniversitesi
dc.description.abstractConspiracy theories (CTs) represent a persistent challenge in evaluating major events, as they often employ fallacious forms of narrative reasoning and persuasion to posit conspiratorial agency and motives. While many CT narratives conflict with logic and reason, a minority may possess a degree of plausibility. But by what standards can plausibility of a CT be measured? This article introduces concepts from legal storytelling, rhetoric and cognitive linguistics to expand Walter Fisher's narrative paradigm framework, enabling auditors to critically engage with the rhetorical dynamics of CT narratives. Through an analysis of official and alternative narratives surrounding the death of a Russian spy, this article demonstrates how, in a similar way to the role of jurors in criminal trials, auditors may either join the rhetor in co-creating a coherent and plausible narrative, or end up challenging the rhetor by identifying problems and thus planting the potential seeds of rival accounts.
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/ct/qtaf002
dc.identifier.endpage117
dc.identifier.issn1050-3293
dc.identifier.issn1468-2885
dc.identifier.issue2
dc.identifier.scopus2-s2.0-105003242498
dc.identifier.scopusqualityQ1
dc.identifier.startpage107
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1093/ct/qtaf002
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12885/5875
dc.identifier.volume35
dc.identifier.wosWOS:001433231700001
dc.identifier.wosqualityQ1
dc.indekslendigikaynakWeb of Science
dc.indekslendigikaynakScopus
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherOxford Univ Press Inc
dc.relation.ispartofCommunication Theory
dc.relation.publicationcategoryMakale - Uluslararası Hakemli Dergi - Kurum Öğretim Elemanı
dc.rightsinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.snmzWOS_KA_20260207
dc.subjectcommunication
dc.subjectsociology
dc.subjectconspiracy theories (CTs)
dc.subjectnarrative paradigm
dc.subjectdramatistic pentad
dc.titleCan conspiracy theories ever be plausible? The role of narrative rationality in the assessment of online conspiracy theories
dc.typeArticle

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