Le discours indirect en anglais contemporain : approche énonciative
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Aix-Marseille 1Disciplines:
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Abstract EN:
Indirect speech is commonly described as being derived from direct speech but if it is so, a large number of phenomena specific to indirect speech remain unaccounted for. The purpose of this dissertation is first to give an outline of the main descriptions offered within the framework of traditional and generative grammars and to set into relief the various problems such analyses come up against. It is then argued that a different type of approach based upon utterer-centred enunciative linguistics - and more precisely a. Culioli's theorie des operations enonciatives - casts new light on indirect speech. For example, the category itself is questioned: do all sentences built on the pattern third person subject/verb of saying/that-clause necessarily correspond to indirect speech? the presence or absence of that is, in this respect, a crucial factor: whether that is present or not, the sentence is or not reported speech. An extensive analysis of reporting verbs is then proposed. Studying some of them proves difficult as they are not always used to introduce indirect speech. Besides, the notion of "tense agreement" is called into question as several examples provided reveal its inappropriateness: being a syntactic notion, it fails to throw light on the reasons why, in certain cases, the original tense has to be retained. In fact, the functioning of tenses in indirect speech can be more satisfactorily approached within the utterer-centred framework. Chapter six approaches the question of judgments and references, with special regard to cases of "referential opacity". The last section offers an overall description of the phenomenon called free indirect speech. An extensive set of examples, taken mostly from british or american novels is provided to substantiate the various points. The conclusion suggests that the classic distinction between direct and indirect speech should be re-examined as a linguistic continuum.
Abstract FR:
Le discours indirect est souvent decrit comme etant derive a partir du discours direct. Or si tel est le cas, un grand nombre de phenomenes qui caracterisent le discours indirect demeurent inexpliques. Le but de cette these est d'abord d'offrir un panorama assez large des presentations usuelles du phenomene dans l'optique traditionnelle et dans l'optique generative et de mettre en relief les principaux obstacles auxquelles elles se heurtent. Il apparait qu'une autre approche theorique, fondee sur les linguistiques de l'enonciation (notamment la theorie des operations enonciatives d'antoine culioli) permet de jeter un regard neuf sur le discours indirect dans son ensemble. La categorie elle-meme est remise en cause: tous les enonces construits sur le modele sujet de troisieme personne / verbe de parole/ proposition completive relevent-ils necessairement du discours indirect ? la presence ou l'absence de that joue un role important: selon que that est present ou non, l'enonce releve ou ne releve pas, dans certains cas, du discours indirect. Les principaux termes introducteurs de discours indirect sont ensuite presentes. L'analyse envisage surtout les verbes ; certains d'entre eux posent probleme car ils ne servent pas uniquement a rapporter. La notion de "concordance des temps" est par ailleurs interrogee : dans la mesure ou elle repose sur des criteres syntaxiques, elle ne parvient pas a rendre compte des cas ou le temps de l'enonce-origine doit etre conserve. Le chapitre six aborde les problemes d'opacite referentielle et appreciative et se propose de decrire la specificite des references en discours indirect. L'etude se termine par quelques reflexions sur le discours indirect libre et aboutit a la conclusion que le discours indirect en anglais n'est pas une realite stable mais doit etre considere comme un continuum linguistique. Un nombre important d'exemples tires de romans anglais et americains contemporains illustrent les theses presentees.