thesis

Recherches sur le langage populaire et argotique dans le roman francais de 1914 a 1939

Defense date:

Jan. 1, 1988

Edit

Institution:

Paris 3

Disciplines:

Literature

Authors:

Directors:

Abstract EN:

In the first part we have analysed the difference between slang and popular language, the latter including "register" events revealing communication situations and used by any speaker, and "level" events excluded from the language of an educated speaker. Popular language, which defines itself in the novel by reference to litterary language of which it is only a variant refused by norm, constitutes a code which is described in the second part. Language is made popular thanks to some devices of a morphosyntaxic and phonetic nature which denote not only "level" but also "register" and which constitute a system in which each "denoter" draws its value from its "representativity" and "significativity". These are generally to be found in dialogues in some contexts fashioned by habit. In the third part we have shown how writing characteristics, style, may come not only from how the writer uses the code or how he expands it but also from the lexicon that escapes all codification, which we have proved in three comparative word studies of several writers. The fourth part is devoted to celine whose originality comes not so much from the popular code as from a search for "orality" based on syntax and mainly a permanent search for ambiguity in all fields: lexical, syntaxic, narrative and enunciative. At last, we have studied the pragmatic value of this popular language.

Abstract FR:

Dans la premiere partie est analysee la difference entre argot et langage populaire, celui-ci recouvrant des faits de "registre", lies a la situation de communication et employes par n'importe quel locuteur et des faits de "niveau" exclus du parler d'un locuteur cultive. Le langage populaire, qui se definit dans le roman par rapport au langage litteraire dont il n'est qu'une variante rejetee par la norme prescriptive, constitue un code, decrit dans la deuxieme partie. On fait populaire au moyen de quelques faits de type morphosyntaxique et phonetique qui correspondent a des "denoteurs" oraux de niveau, mais aussi de registre, et qui constituent un systeme ou chaque denoteur doit sa valeur a sa "representativite" et a sa significativite". Leur emploi, limite en principe aux dialogues, est soumis a certaines habitudes, pour l'essentiel, d'ordre contextuel. Une troisieme partie montre comment les particularites d'ecriture, le style, peuvent tenir a la mise en oeuvre du code ou a son enrichissement, mais aussi au lexique qui echappe a toute codification, ce que prouvent trois etudes comparatives de vocabulaire. La quatrieme partie est consacree a celine dont l'originalite tient non tant au code populaire qu'a une recherche de l'oralite fondee sur la syntaxe et surtout a une recherche constante d'une ambiguite de tous ordres : lexicale, syntaxique, narrative, enonciative. Enfin, est etudiee la valeur pragmatique de ce langage populaire, qui n'est que rarement subversif.