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In:Doing Politics: Discursivity, performativity and mediation in political discourse
Edited by Michael Kranert and Geraldine Horan
[Discourse Approaches to Politics, Society and Culture 80] 2018
► pp. 211–234

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Chapter 9
Es-tu Charlie?

Doing politics on Wikipedia

Editors
Published online: 12 December 2018
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/dapsac.80.09kop
Abstract
This chapter examines the representation of the slogan “Je Suis Charlie” (JSC) on Wikipedia. Drawing on corpus tools in addition to purely qualitative analytical tools led to the identification of several themes that recur throughout Wikipedia’s article on JSC as well as on the associated discussion pages. The Wikipedia article represents JSC as a globally-used symbol of freedom of speech and solidarity with victims of specific violent events. On the discussion pages, JSC receives a markedly different treatment, e.g. the debates focus on whether JSC – rather than symbolising freedom of speech – symbolises the freedom to discriminate against groups of people. Furthermore, the discussions focus on JSC as uniting the “West” only and not on JSC as a global phenomenon.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The magazine Charlie Hebdo, the shooting and “Je Suis Charlie”
  • 3.Wikipedia, the free online encyclopaedia
  • 4.Data and methods of analysis
  • 5.Intertextual analysis – The article’s sources
  • 6.Textual analysis – Je Suis Charlie’s meanings on the article and discussion pages
    • Worldwide and inclusive
    • Solidarity and identification with victims
    • Freedom
    • Violence
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (76)
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