What are persecutory texts if not what we today call conspiracy theories?

[notes of linguistic clearcy]

"Girard coins the term textes de persécution (persecutory texts) to refer to texts which are unconsciously structured by the sacrificial logic that he has uncovered. However, after La Violence et le sacré, in Des choses cachées depuis la fondation du monde Girard introduces a development in his thought which he will explore further in Le Bouc émissaire. What he calls textes de persécution are texts, be they historical or mythical, which are complicit with the designation and persecution of scapegoats; for example, anti-Semitic texts are written as if their authors really believed in the guilt of the Jews, so such texts actively encourage and participate in the violence of the persecutory mechanism." (Colin Davis & Elizabeth Fallaize, French fiction in the Mitterrand years : memory, narrative, desire. Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2000, p. 46)

"The malevolent intent assumed by most conspiracy theories goes far beyond everyday plots borne out of self-interest, corruption, cruelty, and criminality. The postulated conspirators are not merely people with selfish agendas or differing values. Rather, conspiracy theories postulate a black-and-white world in which good is struggling against evil. The general public is cast as the victim of organised persecution, and the motives of the alleged conspirators often verge on pure maniacal evil. At the very least, the conspirators are said to have an almost inhuman disregard for the basic liberty and well-being of the general population. More grandiose conspiracy theories portray the conspirators as being Evil Incarnate: of having caused all the ills from which we suffer, committing abominable acts of unthinkable cruelty on a routine basis, and striving ultimately to subvert or destroy everything we hold dear." (Brotherton, Robert (2013). "Towards a definition of 'conspiracy theory'" . PsyPAG Quarterly. 88: 9–14)