Gender role reversal in political debate? French politicians’ verbal and para-verbal strategies during the socialist primaries

Abstract

Focusing on the Aubry – Hollande debate that took place in the context of the 2011 French socialist party primaries, we observe a possible reversal of gender stereotypes and examine word choices as (…) well as more subtle cues such as interruptions, hedges, etc. If the debate could be described as a stereotypical gender role-reversal, we suggest that these cues point to a more complex picture than a gender reversal, and that the pragmatics structuring the dialogue might be interpreted as a pattern of challenger/champion. Moreover contrasting press articles and comment in online forums on the same debate we invoke a ‘peri-performativity concept’ to explain the differences in interpretations of the politicians’ performances, and conclude that perlocutionary dimensions can be reinterpreted by dominant discourses, (de)/(re)-constructing the performativity of speech acts.