How America Buried Paul : A Sociocultural Phenomenon that Emerged out of Mystification and Paranoia in 1960s USA
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| Year of publication | 2017 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | In autumn 1966 Paul McCartney was involved in a car accident and suffered minor injuries. Although he was back on his feet in no time, the incident sparked a rumor overseas which quickly grew into a full-blown conspiracy theory known as “PID” (i.e. “Paul is Dead”). Based on this theory, many believed that McCartney in fact died in the accident and was replaced by a doppelgänger in order to avoid panic among the Beatles fans. This paper explores the origin and the nature of this sociocultural phenomenon, touching upon Beatlemania, the cult of celebrity, the cult of death, the snowball effect, mystification, and postwar paranoia. |
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