| dc.description.abstract | The objective of this thesis is to shed light on the rhetorical strategies employed in Norwegian conspiracy culture aimed at establishing credibility for the belief in chemtrails. Chemtrails are believed to be a type of contrail that have been intentionally infected with some unknown substance, assumed to cause harm to people and environment. Although the claims about chemtrails have been rejected by the scientific community, all relevant expertise and authority, discussions about alleged harmful chemtrails, and the provenience of and reason for their execution are still taking place today. The empirical material for this study is a corpus of written texts about chemtrails, published on Norwegian websites dedicated to conspiratorial themes. By taking a rhetorical approach, grounded in folkloristic legend-theory, I have used the analytical method of close reading. The analysis is divided after Aristoteles´ three categories of persuasion, logos, ethos and pathos, with the aim of uncovering recurring patterns in the rhetoric aimed at making chemtrails plausible, and to delineate an understanding of the underlying perception of truth in the material. My findings are that a central part of the rhetoric for chemtrails is narrative, and in great part reliant on establishing credible chronologies that can compete with the official explanations. The ethos in the material is largely based on the position of the outsider, which in the context of conspiracy culture is considered to give an independent and critical perspective on reality. Finally, the rhetoric made appeal to the readers emotional, cognitive and moral dispositions are based on basic human longings and fears. | |
