STEREOTYPES ET MAXIMES : RESSEMBLANCES ET DISSEMBLANCES
STEREOTYPES AND MAXIMS: SIMILARITIES AND DISSIMILARITIES

Summary/Abstract: The present article sets out to explore the issue of stereotypes from a literary perspective. Long before the notion was conceptualized, fiction capitalized on an abundant repertoire of stereotypes, thus proving that, despite the ethical dilemmas posed by it, the process of stereotyping can also be artistically fruitful and valuable. This goes against the commonly held assumption that stereotypes are merely encouraging intellectual laziness. Our research will be based on an analysis of the literary genre of the maxim. We will highlight the fundamental characteristics that allow us to draw analogies between this genre and stereotypes. Using a pragmatics approach, we will focus more particularly on the process of decontextualization, followed by a generalizing recontextualization, which appears to be at the core of both phenomena.

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