4.3

Cultish. Fanatische Sprache und woran wir sie erkennen

By Amanda Montell, Florian Kranz, Andrea Schmittmann

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Was macht Kulte so faszinierend – und so mächtig? Was veranlasst Menschen dazu, extremen Bewegungen beizutreten und, schlimmer noch, in ihnen zu bleiben?Für Amanda Montell liegt der Schlüssel nicht in mysteriöser Gehirnwäsche, sondern in einer Sprache der Zugehörigkeit, die sie »Kultisch« nennt. Worte haben Macht – und wir hören oft zu, ohne zu merken, wie sie uns lenken.In Cultish zeigt Montell, wie diese Mechanismen weit über religiöse Sekten oder politische Gruppierungen hinausreichen: in die Sprache von Start-ups, Selfcare-Communities, Coachingpraxen, Friseursalons, Peloton-Rankings und Instagram-Feeds. Clever, witzig und ein wenig unheimlich zeigt sie, wie »kultisch« mittlerweile unsere Gegenwart klingt – und wie wir es schaffen, der Sprache, die uns fesseln will, zu entkommen.Über moderne Anhängerschaft und die verborgene Rhetorik der Zugehörigkeit – bekannt durch den Podcast »Sounds Like a Cult« 

History, Humanities & Society
352 pagesHardcover
First published January 27, 2026

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Popular Reviews(1)

4.3(4 ratings)
NadiraReviewed by Nadira

I'd like to get to know more about the linguistics, but I didn't know anything about cults, now I do, nice! „powerful euphemisms, secret codes, renamings, buzzwords, chants and mantras, "speaking in tongues," forced silence, even hashtags, language is the key means by which all degrees of cultlike influence occur. Exploitative spiritual gurus know this, but so do pyramid schemers, politicians, CEOs of start-ups, online conspiracy theorists, workout instruc-tors, even social media influencers.“ (12) „As our generational lore goes, millennials' parents told them they could grow up to be whatever they wanted, but then that cueal aisle of endless "what ifs" and "could bes" turned out to be so crushing, all they wanted was a guru to tell them which to pick.“ (25) „Though these special terms didn't communicate anything that couldn't be said in plain English, using them in the right way at the right time was like a key unlocking the group's acceptance. Immediately, I was perceived as an insider. The language was a password, a disguise, a truth serum. It was so powerful. Creating special language to influence people's behavior and beliefs is so effective in part simply because speech is the first thing we're willing to change about.“ (43) „But to enmesh in a community that uses linguistic rituals—chants, prayers, turns of phrase—to reshape that "culture of shared understanding" can draw us away from the real world. Without us even noticing, our very understanding of ourselves and what we believe to be true becomes bound up with the group. With the leader. All because of language.“ (47)

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