Pauvre(s) dans le discours de la Banque mondiale. Proposition d’analyse sémantico-discursive

Abstract

This article examines the use of the word pauvre(s) (poor(s)) in a corpus of World Bank reports dedicated to the theme of poverty through its functioning in co-text. The data analysis showed that the form pauvre(s) appears mainly in plural definite noun phrases (les pauvres/the poor), which leads to the conclusion that the individuals referred to by this word are apprehended in a homogenised category. Used in this classificatory dimension, the word presents three main semantic traits: the poor, defined by their state of deprivation and difficulties, require help and protection from institutional entities (charitable trait); they are apprehended through economic reasoning characterized by a specialized vocabulary and the frequent use of numbers (technical trait); and finally, they are caught up in a rhetoric that aims to promote development through the sharing of prosperity worldwide (the consensual trait).