Speaking-thinking-interpreting Subject: Identity Construction and Positioning in Discourse

This paper explores the notion of identiteme in the light of the interpretative dimension of the thinking and speaking subject. Positioned within discourse, subjects weave identities which are both supported and challenged by their own heterogeneity, and mainly revealed in public (media) discourse once they have assumed their roles as addressees of messages. It is through interpretation that the subject draws on his/her linguistic and socio-cultural memory and that s/he engages in the game of identiteme, which in turn becomes heterogeneous. Produced by the so-called proto-social addresser -which manifests itself only marginally in discourse- identitemes pass through the apparent speaking subject, before reproducing their ``I'' and their ``game'' in the identification of the interpreting subject (heterogeneous speaker). This leads to a reflection on how this identification could be altered in the bi-or multilingual speaker.