Abstract
ABSTRACT What are we saying when we lie? Here, I examine two hoaxes in Thailand: a fisherman manufactures evidence of nagas – water dragons – in his town to counter mining claims and Thai security forces double down on the use of a discredited bomb detector. Building on Michael Herzfeld’s cultural intimacy, I argue that these lies do not ask for resolution with ‘truth’, rather, they build a community via provoking a kind of doublethink, calling for the interlocutor to affirm that certain truths are true only in the ideal, at certain times, or at an unresolved future point. Thus, lies are an invitation to a solidarity that remains unspoken: an acknowledgement of a ‘resonance’ that remains unsaid, and a presentation of a world that is still malleable.
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