La simplification de document : de la mise en mots à la mise en scène graphique et rédactionnelle

Authors

  • Christina Romain Aix Marseille Université, CNRS
  • Éric Tortochot Aix Marseille Université
  • Véronique Rey Aix Marseille Université

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1974-4382/22592

Keywords:

professional writers, graphic designers, informational content, relational content, document staging, readers, simplification process

Abstract

In line with the work conducted in simplifying administrative documents (Clerc and Kavanagh 2006; Clerc 2019; Vecchiato 2021), this article questions the professional writer’s know-how with regard to the reader’s final expectations (Schriver, 1997; Cho and Choi 2018). If simplification can be considered in terms of word counts, language registers, sentence structures, or even in terms of a benevolent interactional relationship depending on the more or less conflicting context (Romain, Rey & Pereira 2015, 2022; Clerc 2019), we posit that it can also be considered in graphic terms (Frechin 2019). Since this implies that there are three processes, simplification can be considered as the result of a dialogical process between editorial and graphic design know-how. Our study aims to report on these three processes by analyzing the simplification of a document carried out by a professional writer. We present how, in the process of simplification, the professional writer questions the construction of the document and the reader’s representation of the document. Our results show the difficulty of coordinating two skills (editorial and graphic design) due to differentiated temporalities: that of the immediacy of the information carried by the visual and that of the sequentiality of the information carried by the written language (Plane, Alamargot and Lebrave 2010). The harmonization of these two temporalities at the service of informational and relational content constraints seems to be a source of tension. Our analysis leads us to identify the necessary explanation of know-how to manage this paradox. This practical case shows how these linguistic and graphic processes are implemented when simplifying the documents to be revised.

Published

2025-08-06

How to Cite

Romain, C., Tortochot, Éric, & Rey, V. (2025). La simplification de document : de la mise en mots à la mise en scène graphique et rédactionnelle. MediAzioni, 47, A157-A179. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1974-4382/22592