L’implicite dans les chroniques humoristiques : du sous-entendu à la variation sémantique
Implicitness in humorous columns: from subtext to semantic variation

Summary/Abstract: Humorous chronicles are full of implicit meanings. The implicit allow columnists to create a certain complicity with their readers and gives them the freedom to interpret the messages conveyed. The purpose of the chronicle is not to disseminate information, but to present it in a playful manner in order to attract readers and create a certain addiction to reading. In this contribution, we will study the occurrences of the word ‘yogurt’ in the column Point Zéro published by Chawki Amari from 2013 to 2021 in order to determine the functions of each type of implicit meaning and its contribution to exacerbating the ironic character of these chronicles.Originally, in language dictionaries, the word yoghurt is a monosemic word, it has only one literal meaning. But in speech, and as presented in Chawki Amari’s columns, it has several meanings. These meanings can only be understood when one resorts to the implicit. Some are presuppositions, others are implied, and still others are rhetorical meanings. Presuppositions are virtually non-existent in these columns because they do not allow the author to retract and shirk his responsibility as a reporter of information, whereas the primary purpose of a humorous column is not to inform, but to create a certain pleasure in reading and, above all, an ‘addiction’ to reading. Innuendo leaves room for interpretation and guarantees the freedom to understand what the author does not say explicitly. Rhetorical meaning is used by columnists to heighten the literary genre of the column and to build loyalty among readers who decipher the hidden meanings of words.

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