New media, old fakes. Jews conspiracy plots and the nineteenth century's waves of mediatisation

This essay seeks to disclose a new approach to the understanding of conspiracy theories. It suggests that they are narratives rather than “theories”. To the same extent, news and fake news are objects produced by information technology, often manipulated for a political purpose, but more often just for productivity and profits. Thus, conspiracy plot appears as a mode of intervention on social reality that dovetails with the transformations of media of the late modern and contemporary age. Notably, this paper aims to shed light on the emergence of conspiracy accusations against the Jews in the context of the 19th century, through a series of examples taken from the periodical press. Particular attention will be given to the media transformations of the first and second half of the 19th century, analysing the new techniques of the mosaic of printing (advertisements, newspaper paragraphs, reports) and their impact on the making of the notorious ‘Rabbi’s speech’, a widespread narrative telling the alleged Jewish plot to conquer the world power. In this perspective, a special focus will be put on their relationship with old fake news or conspiracy speech, such as Jesuit conspiracy and ritual murder libels about the Jews.