French Literature Reviews - 2026
V. Verselle, Faire dire pour décrire. Caractérisation langagière des personnages et poétique du récit dans la littérature comique et satirique (XVIIe et XVIIIe s.)
Literary Theory, Linguistics and Stylistics
Vincent Verselle, Faire dire, pour décrire. Caractérisation langagière des personnages et poétique du récit dans la littérature comique et satirique (XVIIe et XVIIIe siècle)
Metz: Centre de recherches sur les médiations/Université de Lorraine, Coll. Recherches textuelles, 2012, 378 p.
EAN: 9782909498096
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This study approaches the linguistic characterization of characters not primarily as a result of an author's singular aesthetic intentions, but rather as a function of narrative poetics; in other words, it investigates a mechanism inherent to narrative texts, certain constants of which can be systematically described.
The analysis conducted in these pages demonstrates that the conditions required for certain aspects of reported speech to make sense as elements of characterization are both textual and context-dependent. Owing to its indirect nature, this phenomenon relies on contextual elements invoked by the text that underpin the inferences allowing readers to (re)construct what is expressed "without being explicitly stated"—elements that therefore require close examination. However, it is equally important to consider linguistic characterization as an effect of textuality, since its manifestation requires a series of features to organize into an isotopic network in order to produce a homogeneous semantic effect, ranging from an isolated line of dialogue to the entire text. Furthermore, characterization stems from the relations of contrast that a character's speech maintains with surrounding discourses, most notably that of the narrator.
The Author
Vincent Verselle is a senior lecturer in French linguistics at the University of Lausanne. His research focuses primarily on text linguistics and the linguistics of utterance, with a particular emphasis on questions of literary poetics.
Table of Contents
Introduction
- State of the Art
- Methodological Perspective
- Delimitation of the Corpus
- Overview of the Main Objects of Study
- Stages of the Analysis
I. The Construction of the Character
- Aristotle's Poetics
- Aristotelian Echoes in the 17th and 18th Centuries
- Modern Theories of the Character
II. Portrait Through Speech: Rhetorical Stakes and Semiotic Foundations
- Verbal Mimesis and Persuasion
- Indexical Speech
III. Categories for Speech-Based Characterization
- Thematic Roles and Character Speech
- Role Classes and Factors of Linguistic Variation
- Beyond Thematic Roles: Individualization and Idiolect
IV. Interpretive Frameworks
- Textual Configuration and the Semiotic Function of Reported Speech
- Prototypical Portrait and Speech
- Narrated Scenes or Described Scenes?
- Antimimesis in the Service of Mimesis
- Discontinuity and Interpretation
V. Linguistic Characterization in Charles Sorel's "La Sœur jalouse"
- Preliminary: The Narrator's Language
- Portraits of the Heroes: First Encounter
- Confrontation and Characterization
- Declarations
- The Domineering Sister and the Jealous Sister
- Character Consistency and Variations in Marking
Conclusion
Vincent Verselle is a senior lecturer in French linguistics at the University of Lausanne, and his research focuses primarily on text linguistics and the linguistics of utterance, with a particular emphasis on questions of literary poetics. This study approaches the linguistic characterization of characters not primarily as a result of an author's singular aesthetic intentions, but rather as a function of narrative poetics. Readers interested in French language history, narrative theory, and comic prose may find these methodological perspectives relevant to their research.
The volume includes an introduction, state of the art, methodological perspective, delimitation of the corpus, overview of the main objects of study, and stages of the analysis. Major sections cover the construction of the character, a portrait through speech involving rhetorical stakes and semiotic foundations, categories for speech-based characterization, interpretive frameworks, and a specific examination of linguistic characterization in Charles Sorel's La Sœur jalouse.