Truth in Crisis: Literary and Linguistic Representations of Post-Truth Phenomena

26^th-27^th June 2025, Rzeszów, Poland

The concept of truth has deep philosophical roots, dating back to Socrates and Aristotle. Socrates warned against those who, convinced of knowing the truth, acted on falsehoods and misled others. Aristotle defines truth as follows: “To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it is, is false, while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that it is not, is true.” Lying, as an act of falsification, involves attempting to deceive others and manipulate them into believing something untrue. Politicians who “spin” the truth to their advantage aim to influence people—not by rejecting the facts outright but by denying them to justify their ideology and shape public opinion (McIntyre 7).

In contemporary times, the manipulation of truth—often referred to as “post-truth”—has become a defining feature of public discourse. Post-truth practitioners seek to convince audiences of untruths despite clear evidence to the contrary, fostering confusion and exerting domination. Politicians, for instance, may twist truths to align with their agendas, obfuscating facts for personal or collective gain. The proliferation of fake news, amplified by memes, television, and social media, infiltrates public consciousness and serves the interests of select groups. These distortions illustrate how the manipulation of truth benefits those who wield it as a tool for influence.

Literature and media have long grappled with these questions, offering incisive critiques of truth’s manipulation in society. Works such as It Can’t Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis (1953), The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (1962), The Winter of Our Discontent by John Steinbeck (1961), The Captive Mind by Czeslaw Milosz (1953), Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell (1949), All The King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren (1946), and The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuscinski (1978) are some of the novels in which truth is spined and modified due to the interests of a certain group in the society.

This conference invites scholars in literature, linguistics, and media studies with a focus on American and British contexts to contribute to an exploration of post-truth and its depiction in various media forms.