#MeToo, or of how we are (not) all victims. The hashtag as a victimizing mark
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24197/redd.5.2022.43-66Keywords:
Mimetic Theory, victims, #MeToo, hashtagAbstract
This paper proposes an interpretative framework to explain the widespread use and value of hashtags as a discursive brand in different social networks. The theoretical framework that we offer is that of the socio-anthropological theories of social contagion and imitation, which extend from Gabriel Tarde and Gustave Le Bon to René Girard. It will be the mimetic theory of the latter, with its particular semiotic proposal based on the victim or scapegoat as the first cultural sign, that will provide us with the keys to understanding hashtag: a mark that not only identifies the user with the victim, but also produces new victims - the executioners, who will be accused, precisely, of crimes of sexual abuse. The performative value of the hashtag will be highlighted, along with the use of first-person narrative discourse to reinforce that performative value.
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