Nommer la violence dite privée : une dynamique entre langue, discours et genre

This paper studies the relationship between language and gender by focusing on the questions related to the naming of domestic violence against women, a social issue which emerged within—and thanks to—the feminist movement in the 1970s. The act of naming is understood, within the framework of a discursive and praxematic approach to the lexicon, as a linguistic act through which a social phenomenon is constructed and representations are conveyed both consciously and unconsciously. The data under investigation include a variety of texts representing feminist and institutional discourses (books and pamphlets from the 70s to the present, articles from the press, sociology papers and documents published by international organizations such as the Council of Europe). Different expressions are used to name domestic violence, such as violence conjugale (conjugal violence), violence conjugale masculine (male conjugal violence), femme battue (battered woman), terrorisme patriarcal (patriarchal terrorism). These expressions are analyzed and evaluated in regard to their adequacy to name the social reality they are meant to describe. The analysis is carried out along two axes: the dichotomy of using a concrete name (femme battue) versus an abstract name (violence, terrorisme, maltraitance, torture, etc. + x) and that of using euphemisms rather than words and expressions that reveal a clearer stance against violence. The first axis also highlights the problem of naming the person subject to such violence in regards to the issues of victimhood and agency. The second axis brings to the forefront the way names can be used as an instrument of political action against violence. Especially highlighted are the ways institutionalized or juridical expressions such as violence conjugale lose their argumentative strength and their political appropriateness—phenomena denounced by feminist scholars.