Från dömd till kultfigur. En multimodal kritisk diskursanalys av Alexander Ernstbergers framställning på TikTok

Sammanfattning

This study examines how Alexander Ernstberger, convicted of economic crime in connectionwith the Allra scandal (one of Sweden’s the biggest financial scandals in recent years) isrepresented in TikTok videos addressing his criminal conviction, imprisonment, and publicreturn. The study is grounded in the observation that TikTok have become a central arena inwhich public figures are interpreted, evaluated, and redefined through user-generated andwidely circulating content rather than through traditional journalistic mediation.The purpose of the study is to analyze the dominant representations of Ernstberger in theselected material, the multimodal resources used to construct these representations, and theways in which they contribute to creating, reinforcing, or challenging his legitimacy. The studyadopts a qualitative multimodal critical discourse analysis (MCDA), drawing on the analyticalframework of Machin and Mayr (2012) and van Leeuwen’s (2007) theory of legitimation. Theempirical material consists of TikTok videos produced by users other than Ernstberger himself.The analysis identifies two overarching and partly parallel themes which represent AlexanderErnstberger on TikTok: an idol discourse and a victim discourse. Within the idol discourse,Ernstberger is portrayed as successful, composed, and authoritative, where economicachievement and personal discipline function as key legitimating resources. Within the victimdiscourse, the focus shifts toward suffering, injustice, and personal endurance, positioningErnstberger as someone who has been treated unfairly by the system. Despite their differentemphases, both discourses contribute to marginalizing the significance of his criminal actionsand displacing attention away from legal responsibility.The study demonstrates that legitimacy in platform-based public spheres can be producedthrough multimodal circulation, affect, and recognizability, even in cases involving individualsconvicted of serious crimes. The findings contribute to a broader understanding of how socialmedia enable alternative forms of public legitimation and how responsibility and blame may berenegotiated within digital, user-driven media environments.