CULTISH - THE LANGUAGE OF FANATICISM
What makes "cults" so intriguing and frightening? What makes them powerful? The reason why so many of us binge Manson documentaries by the dozen and fall down rabbit holes researching suburban moms gone QAnon is because we're looking for a satisfying explanation for what causes people to join-and more importantly, stay in-extreme groups. We secretly want to know: could it happen to me? Amanda Montell's argument is that, on some level, it already has...
Our culture tends to provide pretty flimsy answers to questions of cult influence, mostly having to do with vague talk of "brainwashing." But the true answer has nothing to do with freaky mind-control wizardry or Kool-Aid. In Cultish, Montell argues that the key to manufacturing intense ideology, community, and us them attitudes all comes down to language. In both positive ways and shadowy ones, cultish language is something we hear-and are influenced by-every single day.
Through juicy storytelling and cutting original research, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities "cultish," revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven's Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. Incisive and darkly funny, this enrapturing take on the curious social science of power and belief will make you hear the fanatical language of "cultish" everywhere.
Edad recomendada: Adultos.
MONTELL AMANDA
Amanda Montell nació el 16 de febrero de 1992 en Baltimore, Maryland, Estados Unidos, en una familia judía y asistió de niña a la escuela hebrea. Estudió lingüística en la Universidad de Nueva York y posteriormente desarrolló una carrera como escritora, lingüista y presentadora de pódcast. Ha publicado tres libros de no ficción: Wordslut: A Feminist Guide to Taking Back the English Language en 2019, Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism en 2021 y The Age of Magical Overthinking: Notes on Modern Irrationality en 2024. Su trabajo también incluye colaboraciones en medios como Time, Nylon, Cosmopolitan y Glamour.
