This document constitutes an approach to semiolinguistics from the contribution of Patrick Charaudeau, by describing and analyzing the circuit established in his proposal of the Theory of Enunciation , the discursive strategies and the identities of the actors in public and political affairs.
The first thing is to understand, as Escamilla (2001) does when taking up Charaudeau’s postulate, that » semiolinguistics is a psychosociology of language to the extent that it seeks to account for the phenomena of language as a result of the staging of a subject who is, at the same time, a psychological being and a social being.»
On the other hand, when carrying out any analysis it is necessary to be clear about the concept of enunciation, which refers to the staging of the discourse through the statements, in which a relationship is established between the enunciator (who produces the statement), the statement (the staging of the language) and the enunciatee (who assimilates the statement).
Enunciative analysis “focuses exclusively on the thematic content of language acts, extracting the essential” (Charaudeau, 1986).
Therefore, Charaudeau’s theories are treated from the social context and the different communicative and discursive situations of the actors, which leads to forming «a double speech circuit, thus establishing a discursive configuration, in which two components are evident: one communicative and the other discursive» (Pérez and Quintero, 2010).
This circuit allows us to understand and identify the discursive dynamics of the participants in politics in Latin America and, even, the positions of the media.
It is also important to note that discursive strategies are forms used in language to indicate an intention or interest, depending on the situation presented.
“In this way, Charaudeau establishes himself as a great analyst of advertising, the press and other communication media, which focuses on enunciative and discursive research” (Pérez and Quintero, 2010).
The circuit outlined by Charaudeau (1986) constitutes a broad discursive configuration, through various actors that make up the communicative production. For this reason, for Pérez and Quintero (2010), «we are no longer dealing with a speaker and interlocutor, but rather with biopsychosocial individuals who, apart from being physically involved in the communication, are also subjects who construct their discourses based on their psychological reasons and their social contexts.»
Meanwhile, the Theories of Enunciation refer to the process in which a participant (actor) converts language into discourse and which, without a doubt, are complex actions.
The discursive pieces must meet three fields of problematization of the social sciences : regulation practice, power relations and processes of signification (Charaudeau, 1986):
- In the first: an attempt is made to recognize socially created norms and principles.
- In the second: the power relationship, the struggle of interests, and alliance relationships are observed.
- In the third: there are the imaginaries and social representations (reality is constructed discursively).
Therefore, and trying to understand the complex dynamics in Latin America, «the right to speak is never given in advance, it is not a natural fact: this right is granted by the situation in which one speaks» (Charaudeau, 1986).
That is to say, citizens have prior knowledge, which enables them to act competently in response to what is presented by the candidates, with elements known in advance, which can be distinguished as the notion of Communicative Contract.
Furthermore, “every speaking subject must have credibility, and he himself, conscious of this need, must act in a way to become credible” (Charaudeau, 1986).
However, the recipient of the speech act is not obliged to accept the speech act’s intent. «To do this, he implements a strategy, organizing his speech in such a way as to persuade or seduce his interlocutor» (Charaudeau, 1986).
References
- Charaudeau, P. (1986). Semiolingüística y comunicación. Recuperado el 5 de junio de 2014, de Le site de Patrick Charaudeau: http://www.patrick-charaudeau.com/Semiolinguistica-y-Comunicacion.html
- Pérez, J., & Quintero, E. (2010). Hacia el análisis semiolingüístico del discurso periodístico: Estudio comparativo de los periódicos pereiranos el diario del Otún y La Tarde. 147.
- Escamilla, J. (2001). Fundamentos semiolingüísticos de la actividad discursiva, Cap. 3, 4, 5. Ed. Fondo de Publicaciones de la Universidad del Atlántico. Barranquilla, Colombia. Pág. 27-67.