Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T01:52:24.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Rumor and Gossip: An Overview

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2009

Pamela J. Stewart
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Andrew Strathern
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh
Get access

Summary

In the preceding chapter we have pointed out the crucial significance of rumor and gossip in community contexts that lead to accusations of witchcraft. It is a part of our overall argument that even when particular notions of witchcraft or sorcery are not involved, rumor and gossip themselves may act as a kind of witchcraft, projecting guilt on others in ways that may cause them harm: for example, to lose their jobs, to be physically attacked, or to be socially shamed. Because rumor and gossip work covertly, outside formal mechanisms for social control, they cannot easily be checked on or verified by explicit means. They can nevertheless produce results in themselves regardless of verification, as all political “spin” artists and propagandists know. Asked why a false rumor of wrongdoing by an opponent should be disseminated, the propagandist may advise his client that this will force the opponent publicly to deny the rumor, which may only increase people's suspicions that it is in some way accurate. Legal rules of libel and slander are developed to control the escalation of such attacks, just as rules are put in place to punish those found guilty of threatening hoaxes. Journalists may be threatened with lawsuits for defamation following their repetition of stories against public personalities, such as Dominick Dunne's story about the politician Gary Condit (see the New York Times, January 28, 2003, p. B1).

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×