A Semiotic Perspective on Conspiracy Fantasies as Generators of New Worlds of Meaning. Analysis of the Hypermediatic Phenomenon QANON

Abstract

This research investigates, from a semiotic perspective, the shift in attitudes toward truth currently occurring in contemporary Western societies. The conceptual framework defines the main typological features of contemporary culture, characterized as a digital semiosphere marked by discursive confusion, transformations in dominant opinion flows, and the proliferation of disinformation phenomena. The elements and strategies of conspiratorial discourse are described, understood as the most sophisticated manifestation of disinformation. The QAnon phenomenon is analyzed in detail; its key features -achieving conspiratorial singularity, being digitally native, and following the dynamics of an Alternate Reality Game- position it as the current paradigm of digital-native conspiratorial fantasies. Finally, the broader issue of the current proliferation of conspiratorial narratives is revisited, addressing its discursive factors (post-truth), its spaces of production and viralization (media-digital), and its political and social causes. The main measures being implemented to combat disinformation are discussed, and future research lines from a semiotic perspective are proposed.