Exploring the generic structure of French editorials from the perspective of systemic functional linguistics

Abstract

This article argues that the editorial should be a crucial object of research, both for the role it plays in constructing the ideological positioning of the newspaper syntagmatically (within a single issue) and paradigmatically (its coherence over time) but also as a prevalent example - one of the few examples in daily life - of text whose principal function is opinion formation and persuasion by argument. Drawing on linguistic analysis and specifically on the resources offered by Systemic Functional Linguistics, it contributes to the task of identifying key components of the generic structure of French editorials through the analysis of thematic progression, logical resources and evaluative meanings in the editorials of two French newspapers (Libération, Le Figaro) written at the time of the kidnapping of French journalists in Iraq.