Organized by Aparecida Lino Paulikonis and Ida Lucia Machado, the book” Language and Speech: organization schemes”, from Patrick Charaudeau, published by Contexto, is the result of a joint effort of the Interdisciplinary Circle of Discourse Analysis (ICDA, Rio), of the Faculty of Letters of the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (FURJ) and the DAC (Discourse Analysis Center) of the Federal University of Minas Gerais (FUMG), Faculty of Arts, in Brazil, and the Centre d`Analyse Du Discours (CAD), from Paris XIII, in France. For years the above mentioned laboratories have maintained contact with the CAD, through the agreement between CAPES/COFECUB, and these partnerships have brought interesting contributions to research. However, despite these important relationships, researchers realized that an important part of Patrick Charaudeau’s studies was not yet within the reach of the Brazilian public. Once this gap became evident, and the importance of Charaudeau’s work recognized, researchers of the Brazilian context gathered around some of his writings, especially those that reflect the general lines of his Semiolinguistic Theory, translating and adapting them to the Portuguese language, which resulted in this book.
The organizers point out to the notion of “adaptation” and mention that it is possible that many researchers who have already studied the Semiolinguistic Theory recognize some passages from published works by that author. However, under the supervision of the author himself, this team organized a mix of various writings, turning this work into new material as compared to a simple translation. From this perspective, many concepts were reviewed or remodeled in this edition, several tables were revised and presented again, according to the current state of the theory, several other reformulations won contemporary hues and the examples were brought to the reality of the Brazilian context. The work is justified for several reasons. The linguist that inspired it always exposed innovative concepts about Discourse Analysis, among which the “Language Act” and the roles given to the different participating subjects, phycosocial subjects and those who work with language, internal and external to such Act; the importance that is attributed to both explicit and implicit sense, always considering the circumstances of the speech that determine such Act; the contracts governing them, the different discursive procedures by which the speech can be organized and which are of expository, descriptive, narrative and argumentative order (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.10). The book follows two of Patrick Charaudeau’s main lines of thought. The first presents a reflection on the Discourse, the protagonists of the Language Act and its relation to the discoursive sense; the second highlights basic principles that refer to the discoursive organization of different acts of communication which we face as speaking subjects during our lives. It is worthwhile to point out that at certain moments, the organizers, through a critical approach, question the way the speech organization schemes are addressed by textbooks and the teaching of the Portuguese language in schools (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.107). Aiming to better understand this issue, the professors present a definition as well as a function attributed to them, all properly explained through examples of journalistic texts, literary texts and the internet, as well as textbooks.
The work seeks to: 1) show Charaudeau’s vision on the Language Act. It is a rich and complex phenomenon of communication, an activity that takes place in the theater of each one´s individual life and whose placement on the scene results from various linguistic and situational components; 2) disclose to the Brazilian public consistent and clear analytical-discoursive notions, excellent theoretical tools which can be applied in the analysis of different “corpora” linked to this so fluid and so fascinating theme that is the Discourse (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.10). In his preface, translated by Angela M.S. Correa, Patrick Charaudeau himself states that the book is an adaptation work of this Brazilian research group from some of his notes, and expects the material to enable all researchers and teachers, as well as all lovers of language, to analyze the specificities of the discourses that circulate in the Brazilian society, since it is true, according to him, that every discourse is a testament of the cultural specificities of each country. In making such statement, the author shows the importance of the work to all Brazilian researchers who dedicate part of their time to the study of language and discourse analysis. This position meets the objectives that are proposed by the researchers of three laboratories who did not measure efforts to create opportunities, through the publication of this book, to disseminate Charaudeau’s ideas in the Brazilian context. “A semiolinguistic problematics in speech study” is the title of the first part of the book, focusing in addressing problems in discourse analysis. At the beginning, when approaching the limits of the Discourse Analysis territory, the organizers point out that they propose to carry out a first path, called by them “ language field”, making it clear that such exploitation will not be of non-historical and non-exegetical nature. The text brings some reflections on what certain linguistic and semiotic theories propose as attitudes toward language, highlighting, among the conclusions, that the communication process is not the result of a single intention, given that it is necessary to consider not only what could be declared intentions of the issuer, but also what says the language act about the particular relation that links the issuer and the receiver. The idea is that a given language act presupposes that we ask ourselves about it, about the different readings that it is likely to suggest, which leads us to consider it as a double object, consisting of an explicit (what is expressed) and an implicit (place of multiple senses that depend on communication conditions) (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.17). As a result, the text brings the assertion that a Semiolinguistic Discourse Analysis is semiotic in examining an object that only constitutes itself through intertextuality. The latter depends on the subjects of the language, seeking to extract possible signifier from it. The text also states that a semiolinguistic discourse analysis is linguistic due to the fact that the instrument used to interrogate the subject is built after a structural concept of work facts developed by those who work with language. In other words, these different attitudes toward language presented by Charaudeau refers to different ways of looking at the objects, the method and the knowledge.
The text draws attention to the fact that it leads the reader to think about certain questions, which summarize the goals of the semiolinguistic proposal. These questionings refer to sign concepts, communication and language competence, and will work, from now on, like axes around which other sections of the book will develop. As a result, in the first half, it is possible to see the emphasis on the issue of double dimension, explicit and implicit, of the language phenomenon. In a very didactic way, from definitions and examples by means of equations and diagrams, the organizers lead the discussion on the Metadiscursive Nucleus. The dialogic relationship of the speech act, while production and interpretation, is evidenced, for example, by the explanation of contracts and speaking strategies. Communication situations are presented in detail and the subjects of language are defined: addressee, interpreter, utterer and communicant. The language act as an inter-enunciative act implies the supposed knowledge that circulates among the protagonists of language; the subject, producer of the language act, and the interlocutor, subject of this act. The issue of production and reception, in relation to the language act as staging, is a central point of the work.
Ending the first part of the book, the researchers state that, in order to analyze a language act, it is important to consider not only the intention of the communicating subject, but also who the text induces to talk or which subjects the text induces to talk, which, from a semiolinguistic perspective, gives rise to possible intepretative doings.
The second part of the book deals with the organization of discourse and is divided into principles of discourse organization, enunciation organization mode, descriptive organization mode, narrative and argumentative organization mode. These five texts are divided into various very didactic topics, presenting illustrative examples, which makes reading easy to understand. When focusing on the principles of speech organization, the organizers emphasize that the book is an adaptation of the last “Grammar of Meaning and Expression”, produced by Patrick Charaudeau in 1992, directed to the Brazilian readers and whose content is the true foundation of the language: the discourse (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.67). As the focus is on communication, the text describes that to communicate is to act and, therefore, the texts may be subject to a classification in genres and should not be confused with organization modes, since a given genre may result in one or various discourse organization modes and the use of various language categories (CHARAUDEAU, 2014).
Finally, the book focuses on discoursive staging and genres from reflections involving the subject of communication, texts and genres. Because research in this field of discourse analysis is not yet conclusive, the organizers present a table with some correspondences between modes of discourse and genres.
In relation to the enunciation organization mode, the editors, in an emblematic way, return the focus to the protagonists, to the speech beings, internal to language. The text describes that to enunciate is to organize the categories of language and distinguish the three functions of the enunciation mode: to establish a relationship of influence between speaker and listener (ALLOCUTIVE behavior), to reveal the views of the speaker (ELOCUTIVE behavior) and return to the talk of a third character (DELOCUTIVE behavior) (CHARAUDEAU, 2014, p.82).
Later, the work explains the procedures of this enunciative construction, which are classified as linguistic and discursive. In order to illustrate, some procedures of the first item are presented: interpellation, injunction, authorization, suggestion, appreciation, possibility, proclamation, statement, promise. The discoursive procedures are described in different speech organization modes, throughout the work, considering that it comes from the effects of knowledge, reality / fiction, confidentiality and gender (descriptive scenario) in order to involve the reader in the intervention modes, statutes and points of view of the narrator (story scenario) in the different position of the argumentative subject and values attributed to arguments (argumentative scenario). After showing an illustrative picture of the enunciative construction procedures, describing the relation between enunciative behaviors and the enunciative specifications, as well as the correspondent language categories, each one of these categories of languageis discussed in detail. In a creative and critical approach, the organizers discuss, at last, the descriptive, narrative and argumentative organization modes, questioning the methodology with which these modes of organization are addressed in school exercises. Aiming to clarify these erroneous approaches, it is possible to imply, in these three final texts the task of defining these modes and their functions. The illustrative examples from different sources, such as newspaper articles, didactic books, literary texts and texts from the internet were efficiently exploited, which can lead teachers to think about the language approaches to be used in class.
Notewothy, too, was the team responsible for the translation work, constituted by Angela Maria da Silva Correa (ICDA-RIO), Emilia Mendes (NAD-FUMG), Lilian Manes de Oliveira (ICDA-RIO), Lucia Helena Martins Gouvêa (ICDA-RIO), Marco Barbosa Venicio (ICDA-RIO), Norma Cristina Guimarães Braga (ICDA-RIO) and Rosane Santos Mauro Monnerat (ICDA-RIO). The dedication of these professionals made possible, through a competent translation work, the circulation of Charaudeau’s ideas in the Brazilian context.
It is a work full of merits, among which are worth mentioning the illustrative examples and the didactic way terms are defined. Language and speech can be characterized as instruments to analyse, appropriately, the specifications of the discourses that circulate in Brazilian society.
Besides contributing to the enrichment of discussions on Discourse Analysis, this book disseminates the ideas of Patrick Charaudeau. In this sense, this book is not only intended to scholars of linguistics, but also to all those who wish to better understand the communication process. In its 256 pages, the work can achieve the goal it has set itself and clarifies Charaudeau’s notes, becoming therefore relevant also to beginners in the theories of discourse analysis, especially Semiolinguistics Theory.
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1
Review of CHARAUDEAU, Patrick. Linguagem e discurso: modos de organização. São Paulo: Contexto, 2014. 256p.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Sep-Dec 2016
History
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Received
Aug 2015 -
Accepted
Nov 2015
