Le langage de l’hypocrisie chez quelques personnages dickensiens : une rhétorique de l’excès

This paper is part of a study on the representation of mendacity in Victorian fiction, and deals more specifically with the narrative strategies which are used to denounce the insincerity of some Dickensian characters, like the Lammles (Our Mutual Friend) and the Heeps (David Copperfield). Firstly,...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Publicado no:URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cve,
Autor principal: Fromonot, Jacqueline
Formato: Article ou chapitre numérique
Idioma:Français
Publicado em: Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens 2023
Acesso em linha:Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM
Descrição
Resumo:This paper is part of a study on the representation of mendacity in Victorian fiction, and deals more specifically with the narrative strategies which are used to denounce the insincerity of some Dickensian characters, like the Lammles (Our Mutual Friend) and the Heeps (David Copperfield). Firstly, it seems obvious that excessive language makes it possible for the reader to spot hypocrisy, since inauthentic speeches, burdened with repetitions and hyperboles, undoubtedly betray the speaker’s dishonesty. However, the very heuristic potential of such deceptive language can be questioned. In Dickens’s fiction, it appears that no linguistic element can distinguish for certain truthful speech from false, as they happen to be characterized by the same stylistic devices. The conclusion will explore Dickens’s various reasons for the use of caricature and its excesses, and the access to truth which excessive distorsion can paradoxically provide.