Le tropisme comme trait suprasegmental du discours

This article explores a dimension of speech that pertains to the voice in a more specific way than enunciation or dialogue: it focuses on the intonations the voice may assume and the meaning Nathalie Sarraute attributes to them. Throughout her work, one can identify numerous instances in which the voice – an intonation, an accent, a hesitation in the pronunciation of a word, or a tone, even one paradoxically unmarked – sets off an entire tropismic sequence. By analysing examples drawn from both her narratives and her plays, this study demonstrates how tropisms, though they surface in dialogue through infinitesimal traces, ultimately disrupt the connection between conversational pragmatics and contextual function.