Argumentation et Analyse du Discours (Oct 2010)

La correspondance comme genre éthique

  • Anna Jaubert

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4000/aad.985
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

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The characteristics of a genre of discourse depend upon its specific situation of communication - the genre being embedded in this situation and, at the same time, reflecting it. Concerning correspondences, especially between authors, this situation consists of an interaction both direct and indirect, involving the ethos of the letter writer. Our analysis focuses on the ideals it produces on a background of shared values. The field of inquiry is a choice of famous correspondences of the 18th century, since the letter was at that time an accomplished manifestation of sociability. As such, it adopted a literary form, which created a pragmatic gap and put it under the dependence of another genre, the fictional correspondence, in which ethic implications became its determining factor.

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