What is truth in politics? Movements such as the anti-establishment, internet-born conspiracy theory QAnon are offered as dramatic cases of just how “irrational” people have become in a “post-truth” political world. However, with a growing number of everyday Americans believing in such theories, labeling adherents “irrational” ignores the internally rationalizing logic of conspiracy theories, so we ask the question: how do QAnon followers think through, argue, and rationalize their political truths? This paper establishes a discursive framework that demonstrates how QAnon adherents translate the theory’s paradigmatic political epistemology into personal ideologies. I identify the narrative structures that guide belief, examining how QAnon followers develop a general political plot, set the parameters for conflict, embrace their role in the story, determine what is in the political canon, and relate to the narrative that has been constructed. This analysis highlights the contradictions within the QAnon conspiracy theory—not to pathologize adherents’ irrationality but to demonstrate how people must wrestle with contradiction, paradox, and confusion when developing political ideologies. When framed as the as victims of a brainwashing cult, QAnons routinely respond, “no cult tells you to think for yourself”; instead, their narratives allow them to interpret QAnon in service of developing personalized political truths. Thus, this paper takes their words at face value to see the world as they interpret it. I argue that ideologies are a function of broader political epistemologies such as QAnon; they are embodied, narrativized ways of being in the world that make life livable—despite any inner contradictions—and guide political participation.

政治中的真理是什么？诸如反建制、互联网诞生的阴谋论 QAnon 等运动被作为戏剧性的案例提供，说明人们在“后真相”政治世界中变得多么“非理性”。然而，随着越来越多的普通美国人相信这些理论，将追随者贴上“非理性”的标签忽略了阴谋论的内部合理化逻辑，因此我们提出了一个问题：QAnon 追随者如何思考、争论和合理化他们的政治真理？本文建立了一个论述框架，展示了 QAnon 的追随者如何将该理论的范式政治认识论转化为个人意识形态。我确定了指导信仰的叙事结构，研究了 QAnon 追随者如何发展一般政治情节，设定冲突参数，接受他们在故事中的角色，确定政治经典中的内容，并与已构建的叙述相关联。这一分析突出了 QAnon 阴谋论中的矛盾——不是为了将追随者的非理性病态化，而是为了展示人们在发展政治意识形态时必须如何与矛盾、悖论和混乱作斗争。当被定性为洗脑邪教的受害者时，QAnons 通常会回应：“没有邪教告诉你要为自己思考”；相反，他们的叙述使他们能够解释 QAnon，以服务于发展个性化的政治真理。因此，本文从表面上看他们的话来看待他们解释的世界。我认为意识形态是更广泛的政治认识论（如 QAnon）的功能。他们体现，