Defining rumor
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15448/1984-6746.2016.2.26236Keywords:
Testimony. Rumor. Evidence.Abstract
In this essay, I will critically analyze three definitions of rumor. In the first section, I will consider the C. A. J. Coady’ account (2006), in which the rumor is a case of apparent testimony, but it is not a case of genuine testimony. In the second section, I will consider the definition of rumor offered by David Coady (2006), in which the rumor spreads in a large chain without official status. In the third section, I will consider the definition of rumor of Axel Gelfert (2013), in which
the rumor does not have independent corroboration by either firsthand evidence or official sources. In the fourth and last section, I will propose a definition, in which rumor is a case of genuine testimony without official confirmation, whose original source was lost or never existed.
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References
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