This paper examines the language of COVID-19 conspiracy theories through analysing different sense relations, framings, and word combinations/blendings. The paper unveils linguistic tactics used to spread misinformation and provides crucial insights for combating misinformation and promoting critical thinking.
To dissolve and understand the language of conspiracy, it is useful to first look at single units of language that mean something – words, and their semantic relations within the English language and to the world (OALD). Existing research recognises that conspiracy language is distinct and coins new linguistic structures with new senses which can then insert influence on the recipients which does not serve their cognitive well-being. An example of this would be the extensive use of the word truth in conspiracy theories, attached to a narrow belief in the sense of ‘the only belief that should be accepted, otherwise, a person will suffer’. If someone is mentally labile and believes that truth only refers to that certain narrow belief, the person is likely to be manipulated.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Background/Theory Chapter
2.1 Defining COVID-19 and Conspiracy
2.2 Previous Research
2.3 Working Hypothesis
3. Analysis
3.1 Data and Methodology
3.2 Results
4. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the semantic structures of language used within COVID-19 conspiracy theories by investigating how specific senses are attached to words compared to non-conspiracy language. The central research question explores how terminology is coined, framed, and manipulated to influence recipients and establish a binary opposition between the public and perceived malicious entities.
- Semantic analysis of COVID-19 related conspiracy terminology
- Distinction between mainstream and conspiracy-driven sense relations
- The role of linguistic framing in manipulating cognitive perception
- Examination of specific neologisms like "plandemic" and "scamdemic"
- Investigation of binary oppositions and binary "us-versus-them" rhetoric
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 Results
Methodologically, it was difficult to find data in the Coronavirus Corpus. One major drawback of this approach was that this corpus deals with text from usually fact-checked articles. Therefore, this paper oriented on approaches of previous research. The previous study on conspiracy in general by Samory and Mitra (2018) proposed to have a look at subgroups on the online platform Reddit. Accordingly, COVID-19 conspiracy discussions of the platforms Reddit and Facebook were taken into account and enriched the primary corpus.
The given data from the data set that was put together can be divided into a few semantic fields. These are medical/health; powerful figures, especially Bill Gates; the world/world population, and system/order/control. Words belonging to these fields appeared about 20 times each. Striking terminology, which for this context means that the terms are products of neologisms, blendings, and abbreviations, so creative linguistic structures, is plandemic, scamdemic, gov, NWO, and shepeople.
To distinguish between sense relations, collocates of words from the COVID-19 conspiracy corpus were compared to collocates of words from the reference corpus, namely the Coronavirus Corpus (2020-). Bill Gates appeared four times directly in the COVID-19 conspiracy corpus. First of all, Bill Gates is claimed to belong to the elite. Elite/s appears two times in the COVID-19 conspiracy corpus (2020-). The context hints that it is generally agreed that Bill Gates would be a person in a power position with a systematic plan to expand his power. To interpret the collocates, the discursive context around Bill Gates must be understood.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: The introduction establishes the role of language in mediating conspiracy theories during the 2020 pandemic and defines the study's focus on word semantics and framing.
2. Background/Theory Chapter: This chapter defines the concepts of conspiracy and COVID-19, reviews existing research on misinformation, and introduces the paper's working hypothesis.
3. Analysis: The analysis section details the data collection methods from the Coronavirus Corpus and social media, and presents findings on semantic fields, neologisms, and framing.
4. Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes that conspiracy language relies on antonymous relations within polysemous words to create a binary opposition between citizens and power elites.
Keywords
COVID-19, conspiracy theories, semantics, linguistics, framing, polysemy, neologism, plandemic, misinformation, sentiment, binary opposition, discourse analysis, methodology, rhetoric, semantic fields
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary focus of this research paper?
The paper examines how language conveys COVID-19 conspiracy theories, focusing specifically on the meanings and semantic relations attached to words in this context.
Which linguistic concepts are central to the study?
Key concepts include semantic sense relations, polysemy, metonymy, framing, and the creation of neologisms such as "plandemic."
What is the main hypothesis of the research?
The author hypothesizes that the meanings conspiracy theorists attach to COVID-19-related words are explicit, unilateral, restrictive, and carry emotional weight to influence the reader.
What methodology was employed to analyze the language data?
The research used a combination of corpus linguistics, specifically employing the tool Antconc, to compare usage in a primary conspiracy corpus against the Coronavirus Corpus as a reference.
What constitutes the main body of the paper?
The main body consists of the theoretical background, the detailed data analysis regarding specific semantic fields, and an examination of how these terms are framed.
Which keywords best describe the paper's scope?
The analysis is characterized by keywords like conspiracy theories, semantics, framing, neologisms, misinformation, and binary opposition.
How does the usage of the word "Bill Gates" differ between the two corpora?
In mainstream media, he is portrayed as a philanthropist or entrepreneur, whereas in the conspiracy corpus, he is cast as an elite figure with a malicious agenda.
What is "framing" in the context of this study?
Framing is analyzed as a manipulative tool used by conspiracy theorists to selectively emphasize aspects of an entity, creating a binary "us vs. them" narrative.
How are new terms like "plandemic" formed and used?
These terms are blendings used to imply that the pandemic was a planned instrument for elite power, contrasting sharply with their non-conspiracy or meta-level usage.
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- Lisa Thöne (Autor:in), 2021, The Language of COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories. A Semantic Approach, München, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1474664
