Contenu du sommaire : Les figures de rhétoriques et leur actualité en linguistique, sous la direction de Ronald Landheer

‘The Linguistic Relevance of Rhetorical Figures' (Ronald Landheer ed.) In this volume of Langue française discussion is organized around the theme of rhetorical figures (or figures of speech) — in which metaphor plays inevitably a rather dominant role — as real objects of linguistic reflection, in spite of their aura of poetic deviation or classical mannerism. Stress is laid on the major implications of their theoretical and methodological relevance in contemporary linguistics, more particularly considered in the light of recent research in the fields of pragmatics, cognitive semantics, as well as discourse and lexical semantics.

Figures of Rhetoric : Relevance, Reconstruction, Recasting Instead of claiming that the figures of rhetoric are relevant to contemporary linguistics, I argue for a dissociation between historical reconstruction and theoretical recasting. Reconstructing Dumarsais and Fontanier's works on meaning, we realize that they themselves, in their lifetimes, turned from figures of rhetoric (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche) to early pre-semantic terminology (acceptation, extension, value). Recasting the core of the trope theory in the scope of contemporary discourse analysis leads us to move from oblique description of objects, through analogy or detail (metaphor & metonymy), to intersubjective relations from speaker to listener, through evolutive and ambiguous meanings (antanaclasis & paradiastole).

A Key for Differentiation between Metaphoric and Metonymic Interpretation It has already been noticed that figurative meaning can be intensified or attenuated by modifiers such as regular (vrai), a kind of (une espèce de), literally speaking (littéralement) and so on. But no attention has yet been paid to the fact that these modifiers cannot be used indifferently with any figurative interpretation. In this paper we first show that figurative meaning involves at least three different levels of gradation : the occurrence level, the type level, and the proposition level. Then we demonstrate that metaphor requires a type level modifier, while metonymy is only compatible with occurrence level modifiers. Thus we propose to use this distinctive property as a test in order to differentiate between metaphoric and metonymic interpretations.

Metaphor, the Problem of Deviation This paper has a restricted aim. We do not intend to make the headlines about what a metaphor is, but to make a very modest appraisal of the work of E.F. Kittay (1987) and M. Turner (1988) on the one hand, and that of F. Rastier (1987) on the other hand, in order to delimit the specificity of the 'metaphoric' incongruity, and thus give an answer to one of the main questions of the metaphoric process ; « is it always the case that there is an incongruity in a metaphorical utterance, and, if so, is there an incongruity distinctive to metaphor ? » (E.F. Kittay, 1987 : 68).

Rhetoric and Pragmatics : Figures reconsidered In this paper the notions of 'figure' and 'trope' are to be considered in the light of the recent development of pragmatics, emphasizing the two following aspects : 1. Broadening the notion of trope : the existence of pragmatic tropes, like the 'illocutionary trope', is now admitted together with the semantic tropes of classic rhetoric. Indirect speech acts show many common features indeed with e.g. metaphors and antiphrasis. 2. Figures and 'faces' : rhetorical figures may be called upon in 'face-work' (Goffman) and politeness (Brown & Levinson), namely to contribute towards the harmonious management of the interpersonal relation, besides their traditional acknowledged ornamental and argumentative functions.

Reflections on Metaphor in Popular Science Discourse Metaphors are quite usual in science popularization. In this paper several types of metaphors are described (natural phenomenon / human behaviour / legendary heroes, animals / technical devices). Such a use of language reveals a popular attitude towards science : a difficulty in dealing with abstract concepts leads to a search for social and psychological answers to scientific questions beside the quest for increased knowledge.

Tropes and Semantic Linguistics The tradition of linguistics has reduced rhetoric to tropes. Until now, it has defined figurative sense as a deviation from proper or literal sense, thus highlighting ontological concerne typical of western metaphysics. For descriptive semantics, the trope problem becomes the problem of interpretative paths, ruled by perceptive and hermeneutical constraints. These paths allow the building of semantic shapes and backgrounds.

Figures of Repetition This paper stands in the theoretical framework already set up by the author ; following Madeleine Frederic's contribution, its purpose is to analyze the problems of the links between repetition and the figures of speech as a whole, between figurai and rhetoric, and with the main forms of repetition either of the signifier or of the signified. Emphasis is laid on the operating feature of the awareness of the figures, and on the importance of time in the constitution of figur ality. Throughout a passage of Proust, the link with the specific questioning of the figurative structures in gestation becomes apparent. Reflection on the temporal and cognitive process here expounded allows to deepen the interpretation of the relationship between micro- and macro-structure, through an analysis of the process of interrupted development in the iteration of the amplification supports.

The Treatment of Conventionalized Figures in Lexicon Items of a High Frequency In this paper, the authors study only two main figures, metaphor and metonymy, and a third, secondary and hybrid one, named catachresis. This figures are important for the polysemic development of words. The first one seems to be explained by a movement of « subduction » or abstraction and semantical impoverishment, notion borrowed from the french linguist Gustave Guillaume and important in the works of Jacqueline Picoche. The second one seems to be explained by a contrary movement of thought, that she calls « transduction » : isolation of a semantic component in the semem n° 1 and injection of this component in a semem n° 2, of equal or superior semantic wealth. The examples are chosen in the french high-frequency vocabulary. So, the matter is extremely common and worn out figures, whose figure status must be explained diachronically ; but an adequate stylistic treatment can give them back something of their previous vigour, and even synchronically there are reasons for chosing a figurative ordination of the semens. verishment, notion borrowed from the french linguist Gustave Guillaume and important in the works of Jacqueline Picoche. The second one seems to be explained by a contrary movement of thought, that she calls « transduction » : isolation of a semantic component in the semem n° 1 and injection of this component in a semem n° 2, of equal or superior semantic wealth. The examples are chosen in the french high-frequency vocabulary. So, the matter is extremely common and worn out figures, whose figure status must be explained diachroni- cally ; but an adequate stylistic treatment can give them back something of their previous vigour, and even synchronically there are reasons for chosing a figurative ordination of the semens.