La indignación frente a las “stock-options” de la Société Générale

Emoción y argumentación en el discurso polémico

Abstract

The main claim of this article is that polemic discourse is based on an argumentative device (“l’argumentaire” of Chr. Plantin) that modulates in different doses the rational and passional domain, especially when discourse participates in a polemic widely spread in the public sphere. This condition is fulfilled in the text of F. Sergent “Indecency” which constitutes the object of the analysis since it is centred on the indignation of many people faced to the bonhomie of others specifically the advantages that certain leaders of banks receive, especially those of the Société Générale, in this time of global financial crisis. First, the frame of this polemic speech is explained. Then both the inscription of affects and the reasons that support them are analyzed in order to consider the variations between logos and pathos in relation to argumentative functions.