Reproches et gestion des faces en situation de proximité sociale au Cameroun

Abstract

This study examines the strategies used to realize complaints in three situations of social proximity involving Cameroonian French-speaking participants. Based on 404 responses collected from 81 students through a Discourse Completion Test, the analysis shows that complaints are predominantly formulated as elaborated communicative acts combining a head act with various additional acts. Eight main strategies emerge (disbelief, disapproval, threat, request for change, accusation, moralization, hint, sarcasm), with their frequency varying according to the nature of the offense. The study also highlights the role of modifying devices—softeners and intensifiers—in face management and in adjusting the intensity of the complaint. The findings underscore the richness and complexity of the resources mobilized by speakers to express dissatisfaction while negotiating relational dynamics.

Cuvinte-cheie: reclamaţii, proximitate socială, franceza cameruneză, strategii discursive

REZUMAT

Acest studiu ia în vizor strategiile utilizate pentru a înainta reclamaţii în trei situaţii de proximitate socială care implică participanţi camerunezi vorbitori de limbă franceză. Pe baza a 404 răspunsuri colectate de la 81 de studenţi prin intermediul unui Test de Completare a Discursului, analiza arată că reclamaţiile sunt formulate predominant ca acte comunicative elaborate, combinând un act principal cu diverse acte suplimentare. Apar opt strategii principale (neîncredere, dezaprobare, ameninţare, cerere de schimbare, acuzaţie, moralizare, aluzie, sarcasm), frecvenţa lor variind în funcţie de natura ofensei. Studiul evidenţiază, de asemenea, rolul dispozitivelor de modificare - atenuatoare şi intensificatoare - în gestionarea expresiei faciale şi în ajustarea intensităţii reclamaţiei. Constatările subliniază bogăţia şi complexitatea resurselor mobilizate de vorbitori pentru a-şi exprima nemulţumirea în negocierea dinamicii relaţionale.

LANGUAGE OF PUBLICATION

French (main text and corpus)

TITLE IN ENGLISH

Complaints and Face Management in Situations of Social Proximity in Cameroon

UDC: 81`22 

REFERENCES

Bousfield, D. (2008). Impoliteness in the Struggle for Power. In: Bousfield, D., Locher, M. (Eds.). Impoliteness in Language (pp. 127–153). De Gruyter Mouton. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0047404509990674.

Chiasson-Albert, N. (2022). Actes de langage menaçants, atteintes aux faces et montée en tension chez des locuteurs natifs de français acadien lors de réunions d'un conseil municipal. Thèse de doctorat. University of Moncton.

Denoyelle, C. (2006). Du reproche à la polémique : la mise en place de la violence verbale dans quelques œuvres du XII^e et du XIII^e siècles. Études médiévales, 150–161.

Edmondson, W. (1981). On saying you're sorry. In: Coulmas, Fl. (Ed.). Conversational Routine. Explorations in Standardized Communication Situations and Prepatterned Speech (pp. 273–288). Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110809145.

Eggs, E. (2008). Le pathos dans le discours – exclamation, reproche, ironie. In : Rinn, M. (Ed.). Émotions et Discours. L’usage des passions dans la langue (pp. 291–320). Presses Universitaires de Rennes. https://journals.openedition.org/ questionsdecommunication/265.

Jobert, M. (2010). L’impolitesse linguistique : vers un nouveau paradigme de recherche ? Lexis, HS 2. https://doi.org/10.4000/lexis.777.

Kerbrat-Orecchioni, C. (2005). Les actes de langage dans le discours. Théorie et fonctionnement. Armand Colin.

Kraft, B., Geluykens, R. (2002). Complaining in French L1 and L2. A crosslinguistic investigation. In: Foster-Cohen, S., Ruthenberg, T., Poschen, M. L. (Eds.), EUROSLA Yearbook 2 (pp. 227–242). John Benjamins.

Laforest, M. (2002). Scenes of family life. Complaining in everyday conversation. Journal of Pragmatics, 34(10–11), 1595–1620.

Laforest, M., Moïse, Cl. (2013). Entre reproche et insulte, comment définir les actes de condamnation ?. In : Fracchiolla, B., Moïse, C., Romain, C., Auger, N. (Eds.). Violences verbales. Analyses, enjeux et perspectives (pp. 85–105). Presses universitaires de Rennes.

Meinl, M. E. (2010). Electronic Complaints: An Empirical Study on British English and German Complaints on eBay. PhD Thesis, University of Bonn.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2025a). Du reproche à l’excuse dans la sphère publique en contexte camerounais. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies, 9(1), 9–35.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2025b). Arrête-moi ce bruit-là ! Tu ne vois pas que ça perturbe ? L’énonciation réprobatrice dans la sphère publique en contexte camerounais. European Journal of Applied Linguistics Studies, 9(1), 168–188.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2023). Gender pragmatic variation in the realization of complaints by Cameroon French speakers. Akofena, 8(4), 3–18.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2022). Complaint strategies and formulas in Cameroon French. European Journal of Literature, Language and Linguistics Studies, 5(4), 20–41.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2015). Tu es même comment ? Du reproche à la gestion des faces en français au Cameroun. Nodus Sciendi, 14, 1–31.

Mulo Farenkia, B. (2011). Formes de « mise à distance » de l’altérité ethnique au Cameroun ». Journal of Pragmatics, 43, 1484–1497.

Riou, L. (2013). Le désaccord et la critique entre amis : stratégies d’adoucissement dans le discours préconflictuel. Thèse de doctorat. University of Exeter.

Trosborg, A. (1995). Interlanguage Pragmatics: Requests, Complaints and Apologies. Mouton de Gruyter.

Received: February 2, 2026 | Reviewed: February, 14, 2026 | Accepted: February 22, 2026

Google Scholar cited by