Diverging Polyphony and the Questioning of Euphemisms in Written Press

Abstract

Adopting a pragmatic approach, this study focuses on a particular case of taking charge of euphemisms in the French-speaking print press : the one where, instead of adhering to their mitigation effects, the journalistic discourse displays a critical position against them. This one is envisaged in terms of “divergent polyphony”, defined as a confrontation of points of view in dissension. After having located the divergent polyphony in relation to the general functioning of dialogism and polyphony, this paper shows how it is at the heart of the questioning of euphemisms in recent French and Swiss French-speaking newspapers. On the one hand, we analyze its main discursive modalities, whether they concern its dialogical anchorage, its setting in text or its enunciative marks. On the other hand, we examine the different motivations (communicational, referential or sociodiscursive) for the polyphonic rejection of euphemisms in the selected newspapers. Furthermore, we highlight the argumentative strategies in which the divergent polyphony fits with its unmasking and stigmatizing procedures against the euphemisms targeted.