every three days3. In addition, while the tendency in online communication is to write less and include more images and videos, Colau’s publications are mostly text, averaging 984 characters per post.

We will adopt the perspective of Discourse Analysis as an interpretive practice (Arnoux, 2006), according to which the categories of analysis are determined by the problems that arise in the research and by the materials with which we have carried out our work, and not the other way around. Within this framework, the options presented by the discourses are fundamental. Moreover, they are manifested in linguistic materiality and are generally opaque for the subjects (Pêcheux, 1984). Starting from these options, the analytical input is defined, which in this paper consists of strategies of the controversy, emphasis on the assertion, negation, lexical selection, argumentation, and modalities, among other discursive procedures that allow for the identification of the ethical features of the enunciator. In this way, from the analysis of the corpus, we can identify the different ethos of Colau.

3. Results

Throughout the period analyzed, Colau was developing a complex and multifarious self-image, composed of five types of ethos that are interrelated and mutually determined. Her ethos as activist responds to the interest in safeguarding the good reputation that Colau had gained as spokesperson for the PAH. The humanitarian ethos allows her to establish an identification with her followers. With her ethos as politician, she differentiates herself from her opponents while at the same time strengthening the collective identification with her adherents. The mayor’s ethos is aimed at gaining legitimacy by highlighting the fulfilment of her governmental duties. Her ethos as leader is linked to the development of authority at the national and international levels.

Table 1: Classification Of ethos

Source: created by the author

3.1. Ethos as activist

The sudden transition from activist to Mayor required Colau to build a new identity capable of preserving the reputation she had achieved as an activist. Let’s look at the following fragment:

“La paraula Alcaldessa m’imposa respecte. Quan vam començar l’aventura de crear una candidatura ciutadana i em preguntaven si em veia com a alcaldessa, em costava trobar la resposta. No podia dir ‘sí’ sense matisar-ho amb uns quants peròs [...] El dia 13 hi haurà una cerimònia formal, protocolària, de la qual sortiré amb un títol, amb un càrrec, però amb