Eluder la responsabilité des propos avancés: le cas de la prétérition

Abstract

Commonly defined as the figure which consists of invoking a topic by denying it should be invoked, praeteritio proves to be particularly prodigious in the field of rhetoric. Praeteritio allows the speaker to convey his point of view while avoiding taking full responsibility for his words and to reduce therefore the potential attack of the interlocutor. Drawing on the works of Fontanier (1977) and Laurent (2001), for stylistics, and the work of Snoeck Henkemans (2009), in the field of rhetoric, this study firstly aims at reviewing the linguistic means by which praeteritio becomes manifest in discourse. Furthermore, praeteritio is approached in terms of rhetorical strategy meant to impose a point of view on the audience through the
pseudo cancelation of the intention to accomplish a speech act. The analysis is performed on a series of excerpts dealing with the situation of Rroma people in Romania and abroad.