Lies that seem like truths

Abstract

This article has, as its theme, narrative, fiction and truth, and aims to show, with theoretical and methodological basis in semiotics of French perspective and in literary theory, that lies and truth are effects of meaning that are discursively constructed and that the lie is related to the speech, requiring intentionality from the enunciator. We discuss here the lying discourses that circulate in social networks and messaging apps, and the discourses through which, by means of lies, one creates a super-reality that allows for a broadening of the perception of reality. We seek to answer the questions: what do fake news and literary narratives have in common?; and what makes lies seem like truths? Fake news are discussed based on the concept of veridiction, while literary narratives are discussed based on the concept of verisimilitude. The conclusion is that, in the literary text, the acceptance of the “lying” text as truth is based on a tacit contract by which the enunciatee knows he is in the universe of fiction, and that, in fake news, there is no fictionality clause. In them, the acceptance of the lie as truth is linked to a non-rational reading of the text and to the fact that the lying news meets the beliefs and values of the enunciatee.