Far Right Tales

For the past two years, we have observed in Germany how conspiracy narratives and the denial of the Corona pandemic have gained a popularity that has far exceeded the extent of what could be expected. "QAnon" in the U.S., as well as "Querdenken" in Germany, have not only revealed that conspiracy ideologies are spread in well-networked structures, they have also given us an insight into the narrative patterns and the strategies conspiracy ideologues use to defend their claim to "truth."

In the context of the seminar "Documenting the Documents of Documentation", which dealt with forms of documentation around the storming of the Capitol in Washington D.C. on January 6, 2021, a project called "Fahr Right Tales" was developed, which looked for its focus in the conspiracy ideological scene in Germany and took a closer look at common narratives among corona deniers. In a conversation with narrative researcher Prof. Dr. Sabine Wienker-Piepho from the University of Jena, the project discussed why modern conspiracy narratives should be referred to as sagas.

The entire interview can be read here

The images accompanying the interview, as well as the reprinted speech of the far-right "Volkslehrer" Nikolai Nerling, were taken from the context of several rallies against the German government's Corona measures in Berlin on August 29, 2020. Later that same day, "Reichsbürger" and Corona deniers stormed the stairs of the Reichstag building and caused bewilderment in society and the (inter)national media with their show of force. The images we saw are new, the stories told in them are not