ABSTRACT
Behind its apparent content, a rumor often bears a second message. It is the latter that gives intense emotional satisfaction as the rumor circulates. In fact, one might essentially spread hidden messages of which we are unaware. This chapter presents many examples that shows, every rumor allows for several interpretations, that is, several levels of decoding. At one level, one can consider that many rumors are but oral extrapolations of "what would happen if." A second level of interpretation links rumors to the recent history of the group within which they circulate. At a more general level, one could point out that this rumor is ubiquitous. Since the beginning of research on rumors, analysts have wanted to build up classifications and typologies. Unfortunately, the latter relied too heavily on rumors' apparent content. Just as the interpretation of dreams differs in accordance with the theory one adopts—Freudian or Jungian—there is no single key to the interpretation of rumors.
