De quoi El Risitas est-il le mème ? Analyse sémiopragmatique

This study focuses on the use of the El Risitas meme in the Blabla18-25 forum and addresses three aspects. We first proceed to a semiopragmatic analysis of the meme. By analyzing a corpus of messages extracted from the Blabla18-25 forum, from the jeuxvideo.com website, including El Risitas in its original or transformed forms, we take into account the following different aspects: forms (visual or scripto-visual language), type of propagation (replication or variation) and functions of the meme. This analysis highlights the polysemic nature of the meme and its role in the development of a community language. We then propose a dialogical analysis to describe the function of the meme in the interactional dynamics of exchanges. Finally, we show how the meme has become a political object, enabling its users to express their proximity to a set of extreme-right, racist, anti-feminist or homophobic opinions.