Title: The Royal Palace Massacre, Conspiracy Theories and Nepali Street Literature
Abstract:This is an account of a relationship between rumours and conspiracy theories on the one hand and the production and consumption of Nepali popular literature on the other. It focuses first on the rumou...This is an account of a relationship between rumours and conspiracy theories on the one hand and the production and consumption of Nepali popular literature on the other. It focuses first on the rumours that circulated in Nepal during 2001 as alternative explanations for the Narayanhiti Palace massacre that took place on 1 June that year. It then describes how believers in these rumours seized upon ‘errant data’ in the official account of the massacre and built them up into conspiracy theories over the years that followed. Finally, it examines the way in which a number of Nepali authors capitalized on the Nepali public's fascination with this event and its continued scepticism of the official account.Read More