Emotion and Affect Invoked in News Reporting on the “Muslim Conspiracy” Behind the Indian Rebellion of 1857

Abstract

As much as conspiracy theories have been under-researched in South Asian historiography, so the emotional and affective dimensions of conspiracy theories as a cross-cultural phenomenon have also not received proper attention.  What emotions do rumors of conspiracies rouse?  What affects might those who promote such allegations seek to prompt?  Through the examination of Anglophone reporting in Indian, British, and American newspapers contemporary to and regarding the “Muslim conspiracy” supposedly involved in the 1857 rebellion, we can investigate these questions during one historical moment.  Many Indian, British, and American journalists and editors portrayed Muslims as the main agitators of violence despite clear evidence for the involvement of other Indians.  Significantly, this occurred as a globalized news network began coalescing at the intersection of increasing literacy levels and standardizing news reporting.  Although the anxieties, fears, and anger that these reports might have evoked prove difficult to determine, the language of the reporting itself offers insights into the emotions referenced in the reporting, both in terms of those projected onto “Muslim conspirators” and those suggested that readers should feel.  The reporting on the rebellion helped contribute to Islamophobic and anti-Muslim sensibilities hardening in many Anglophone cultures, even among faraway American audiences.