The Satirical Press and Its Impact on Public Consciousness in Modern France (Based on “Le Canard Enchaîné”)

Abstract

This article, based on the satirical weekly newspaper “Le Canard Enchaîné”, examines the impact of the satirical press on public consciousness in modern France. The source base of the research is a selection of publications “Le Canard Enchaîné” for 2009-2020, as well as special editions of newspapers and the most significant investigative materials of previous years, with a total of over 150 copies and a sample of more than 600 contexts. To better understand the principles of its journalism (e.g. it does not accept any advertisements), the materials of an interview conducted by the author in 2013 in Paris with a journalist from “Le Canard Enchaîné” staff were used. The weekly features a wide range of ways to influence the reader, including both speech techniques to manipulate the information as well as expressive means of language, many jokes and cartoons that appeal to emotions instead of reason. At the same time, lexical, stylistic and syntactic means have always been carefully selected and developed, creating a special style of the newspaper known as “Le ton Canard”; its major function is to appeal to emotions of the readership with the purpose to model their perception of political events, politicians, government members, and French personalities. Special attention is paid by the author to the analysis of some famous investigations and, in particular, the coverage of “the Jérôme Cahuzac case”, as well as the presentation of last three French presidents on the pages of the weekly: F. Hollande, N. Sarkozy and E. Macron.