From the Hypernovel to Paranoid Fiction

How can storytelling help us cope with complexity? How can novels help us detect and debunk conspiracy theories? Is “paranoia” a delusional mental disorder or a vital critical tool, in the age of post-truth, fake news and infowars? We will dissect the double meanings of “plot” in major novels by Italian masters Italo Calvino ( If On A Winter’s Night A Traveler, 1979) and Umberto Eco ( Foucault’s Pendulum, 1988). We will then tackle the paradoxes of paranoid fiction and conspiratorial evidence, from literature to the internet: from Luther Blissett’s Q (1999) to Q’Anon, Unfiction and ARG (Alternate Reality Games). Taught in English with a discussion section in Italian.