Duplicité interne ou dévoiement contextuel ? Valeurs non temporelles des propositions en WHEN postposées en contexte interrogatif
Résumé
The diversity of uses for the WHEN marker is remarkable, particularly as an interpropositional connector, at the junction of a double structure, and introducing a clause (Q) in a postposed position. WHEN Q is then located at the end of the chain, and is influenced by the determinations present in the context and the clause (P) to its left.
This article studies postposed WHEN clauses in direct or indirect discourse contexts, where clause P is in the interrogative form, as in :
"Why didn't you make Dempsey stop his car when you passed me in the drive?" he said accusingly (Small World, 38).
He wondered again for whom he was writing the diary. For the future, for the past -for an age that might be imaginary. (...) How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive? (1984: 25)
But Harry wasn't thinking clearly that day. How could he think when his mind had been turned into an open wound, a suppurating mass of scrambled brain matter, exploded neurons, and short-circuited electrical impulses? Where was reason when the adored one of your life has just insulted you with a litany of monstrous denunciations, ripping apart your hapless self with the hatchet blows of his contempt? Where was mental equilibrium when that same man and his new cohort have declared their intention to rob you of everything you own and you feel powerless to stop them? (Brooklyn Follies, 207)
These examples show that the role of WHEN Q is not always that of an adverbial allowing the "temporal localization" of P. In the last two examples, WHEN Q would rather seem to support the assertive modality which affects the predicative relation of P.
The question is whether WHEN conceals in its very operative profile a form of intrinsic duplicity comparable to that of connectors such as SINCE, allowing for two types of interpropositional location : relative to the parameter T of the Situation of enunciation ("temporal" uses) or to the parameter S ("modal" uses). Or whether, given the preponderance of WHEN’s "temporal" uses, the T parameter of the Situation of enunciation is always at stake.
In this second hypothesis, the creation of justificatory, or even argumentative, interpretations in interrogative contexts stems from the discrepancy between the use of a fundamentally non-subjective marker and contexts of use in which the modality of assertion and intersubjective relations are literally brought to the fore.
The framework adopted is that of Antoine Culioli's Theory of Enunciative Operations, which enables the study of data in context, at the interface of the syntactic, semantic and discourse domains. The study is based on a corpus of authentic examples from various sources of British and American English.
La diversité des emplois du marqueur WHEN est remarquable ; particulièrement en tant que connecteur interpropositionnel, à la jonction d’une structure double, et introduisant une proposition (Q) en position postposée. WHEN Q se situe alors en bout de chaîne et reçoit l’influence des déterminations présentes dans le contexte et la proposition (P) à sa gauche.
Cet article étudie les propositions en WHEN postposées inscrites dans des contextes de discours direct ou indirect, où la proposition P est à la forme interrogative, comme c’est le cas dans :
“Why didn’t you make Dempsey stop his car when you passed me in the drive?” he said accusingly. (Small World, 38)
He wondered again for whom he was writing the diary. For the future, for the past –for an age that might be imaginary. (…) How could you make appeal to the future when not a trace of you, not even an anonymous word scribbled on a piece of paper, could physically survive? (1984: 25)
But Harry wasn’t thinking clearly that day. How could he think when his mind had been turned into an open wound, a suppurating mass of scrambled brain matter, exploded neurons, and short-circuited electrical impulses? Where was reason when the adored one of your life has just insulted you with a litany of monstrous denunciations, ripping apart your hapless self with the hatchet blows of his contempt? Where was mental equilibrium when that same man and his new cohort have declared their intention to rob you of everything you own and you feel powerless to stop them? (Brooklyn Follies, 207)
Ces exemples montrent que le rôle de WHEN Q n’est pas toujours celui d’un adverbial permettant la « localisation temporelle » de P. Dans les deux derniers exemples, WHEN Q semblerait plutôt venir à l’appui de la modalité d’assertion qui porte sur la relation prédicative de P.
La question est de savoir si WHEN recèle dans son profil opératoire même une forme de duplicité intrinsèque comparable à celle de connecteurs comme SINCE, permettant la mise en place de deux types de repérages interpropositionnels : afférent au paramètre T de Sit (emplois « temporels ») ou au paramètre S (emplois « modaux »). Ou si, étant donné la prépondérance de ses emplois « temporels », WHEN situe résolument le repérage dont il est la trace du côté T de la Situation d’énonciation.
Dans cette seconde hypothèse, la création dans les contextes interrogatifs d’effets de sens justificatifs, voire argumentatifs, émanerait du décalage entre l’emploi d’un marqueur fondamentalement non-subjectif, et des contextes d’emploi où modalité d’assertion et rapports intersubjectifs sont littéralement mis en avant.
Le cadre adopté est celui de la Théorie des Opérations Enonciatives d’Antoine Culioli, qui permet une étude des données en contexte, à l’interface des domaines syntaxique, sémantique et discursif. L’étude se base sur un corpus d’exemples authentiques provenant de sources variées d’anglais britannique et américain.
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