Abstract
THE VOCABULARY OF ANTI-CLERICALISM IN FRANCE FROM THE DREYFUS AFFAIR TO THE SEPARATION OF THE CHURCH AND THE STATE. 1898-1905 in France was a period marked with new words (like anticléricalisme, combisme, the word family of laïc) or with words suddenly assuming new political values in social confrontations (like séparation, congrégation). J.-P.H. makes an inventory ot the principal characteristics of the morphological creations in that period, which includes an enormous body of neologisms with pejorative or parodical suffixes. Some derivative strings come from the productive poles: catholique, chrétien, clérical, jésuite (and prêtre, moine, religieux). These strings bring together a whole display of metonymies and metonymical derivatives which are sustitute to the series of designations with a play on a number of specific traits ffroc, calotte, tonsure, goupillon... ) and on some caricatured «models» (Tartuffe, Escobar, Loyola, flamidien, capucin ... ). Symbolic micro-systems accompagny these polemical promotions. Thus the colour black (the «blahs» are the priests), l'obscurantisme, l'éteignoir contrast with the rationalist and républicain lumière, whereas the right wing, for its part, is sit against Christian values making antisemitic and anti-protestant references. The two systems of dénonciation intersect in the discourse of the so called « revolutionary » right wing, where the contre-église freemason is in his turn provided with an abundant stock of words influencing the congregation. These include: tartuffes rouges, cléricalisme maçonnique, curés à barbes, jésuites à robe courte ... Le petit père Combes isn't he also l'Abbé Combes, le défroqué? Thus the anti-clerical discourse is subject to the law governing all political discourse for its creation as well as for its reprocessing.