Ablali, Driss <br/><br/>
When the digital link maintains the narrative thread of suffering people 

 -  2015.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 52 
<br/><br/> This paper calls into question the link between digital technology and suffering by comparing them with an established discourse. It attempts to think about digital technology not as a simple communications tool but rather as a semiotic practice. This approach leads us to link the narratives of social suffering with questions as fundamental as those concerning the support, type, position, or self-representation; in short, the “digital connections” (Casilli’s liaisons numériques) between oneself and the world as well as with others. First, we propose a reflection on the semio-technical device set up by a suicide prevention organization that allows people in situations of suffering to enter into narratives through e-mails. We then study the impact of this platform on the telling of personal essays/discourses. Finally, we analyze the linguistic specificities of the e-mail genre, always linked directly with screen-writing devices. This discussion aims to contribute to the collective reflection on the discourse of suffering in cyberspace. We study the mediating function of digital technology in order to show the linguistic marks made. In other words, how can we approach an discursive ethos of suffering and how can we interpret its discursive manifestations?