The Popular Culture of Conspiracy/The Conspiracy of Popular Culture
An exploration of "cumulative narrative" focuses on the story of the abduction of Samantha Mulder, FBI Special Agent Fox Mulder's younger sister, on the TV series, The X-Files. Perusal of the recurring Samantha theme over the seven seasons aired in the UK through 2000 notes that Fox Mulder's pursuit of answers related to the X-files is motivated by his desire to discover the truth behind his sister's abduction. The Samantha narrative is considered in light of both a "popular culture of conspiracy," which involves the production, circulation, & consumption of conspiracy theories in popular culture, & the "conspiracy of popular culture," which centers on how "fringe knowledges" about things like alien abductions achieve mass exposure & popularity. The X-Files includes the essential elements of conspiracy theories while emphasizing the search for "truth," but it is just one of many pop-cultural products with conspiracy at its core. Theodor Adorno's (1994) astrological readings are drawn on to examine the knowledge, commodity, & culture forms/functions that help to shape the current landscape of conspiracy. 25 References. J. Lindroth