Analyzing Emotions in French Discourse: (Manipulative?) Shortcuts

First I discuss what relationship links emotions and discourse; then, which methodological tools it is possible to use to describe emotions in a way that is relevant for discourse analysis (DA); third, how to pay attention to the linguistic and cultural features of discourse and why this is a condition to make DA sensible and effective; finally, the chapter sets out to offer a draft description of “emotive shortcuts.” The second part aims at studying a case. The case that has been chosen constitutes the opening of a plea and displays some typical features such as: narrative patterns, a strong emotive function, cataphoric links with what will be told later. Because of its highly suggestive content, this piece of discourse may be considered as an argumentative “shortcut,” inducing conclusions without arguing for them. Quick generalization based on emotive force may put forward conclusions in a non-argumentative way; i.e., it can induce to draw conclusions without having grounded them in a critical discussion). However, this is not always the case. So I try to evaluate the case study from this point of view.