Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales

Since the fall of 2017, when it was brought to the public debate, gender-inclusive writing has sparked passionate reactions. The debates generated by this linguistic practice are divisive and the discussion on certain aspects, such as the so called midpoint, is paralysed. Many arguments are mobilise...

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Main Authors: Cyril Liénardy, Julia Tibblin, Pascal Gygax, Anne-Catherine Simon
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses universitaires de Caen
Series:Discours
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/discours/12636
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author Cyril Liénardy
Julia Tibblin
Pascal Gygax
Anne-Catherine Simon
author_facet Cyril Liénardy
Julia Tibblin
Pascal Gygax
Anne-Catherine Simon
author_sort Cyril Liénardy
collection DOAJ
description Since the fall of 2017, when it was brought to the public debate, gender-inclusive writing has sparked passionate reactions. The debates generated by this linguistic practice are divisive and the discussion on certain aspects, such as the so called midpoint, is paralysed. Many arguments are mobilised by opponents, such as the unreadability of gender-inclusive writing, or the absence of ambiguity in the use of the generic masculine and therefore the uselessness of replacing it with other more explicit techniques. In the present study, we measured the effects of some inclusive devices – complete pair forms and midpoint-abbreviated pair forms – on text readability (implicit and explicit) and mental representations. The results show that regardless of the inclusive device used (generic masculine, complete doublets or doublets abbreviated by the midpoint), readers quickly get used to the form. The results also reveal that texts mobilising inclusive forms generate more mental representations of women than texts written in the masculine form. We discuss these results in the light of current debates on gender-inclusive writing.
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spelling doaj.art-d9ded191bc5c41b781c818508a1a357c2024-02-13T09:52:31ZengPresses universitaires de CaenDiscours1963-17233310.4000/discours.12636Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentalesCyril LiénardyJulia TibblinPascal GygaxAnne-Catherine SimonSince the fall of 2017, when it was brought to the public debate, gender-inclusive writing has sparked passionate reactions. The debates generated by this linguistic practice are divisive and the discussion on certain aspects, such as the so called midpoint, is paralysed. Many arguments are mobilised by opponents, such as the unreadability of gender-inclusive writing, or the absence of ambiguity in the use of the generic masculine and therefore the uselessness of replacing it with other more explicit techniques. In the present study, we measured the effects of some inclusive devices – complete pair forms and midpoint-abbreviated pair forms – on text readability (implicit and explicit) and mental representations. The results show that regardless of the inclusive device used (generic masculine, complete doublets or doublets abbreviated by the midpoint), readers quickly get used to the form. The results also reveal that texts mobilising inclusive forms generate more mental representations of women than texts written in the masculine form. We discuss these results in the light of current debates on gender-inclusive writing.https://journals.openedition.org/discours/12636gender-inclusive writingrole nounsreadabilityfull doubletsabbreviated doubletsmidpoint
spellingShingle Cyril Liénardy
Julia Tibblin
Pascal Gygax
Anne-Catherine Simon
Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
Discours
gender-inclusive writing
role nouns
readability
full doublets
abbreviated doublets
midpoint
title Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
title_full Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
title_fullStr Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
title_full_unstemmed Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
title_short Écriture inclusive, lisibilité textuelle et représentations mentales
title_sort ecriture inclusive lisibilite textuelle et representations mentales
topic gender-inclusive writing
role nouns
readability
full doublets
abbreviated doublets
midpoint
url https://journals.openedition.org/discours/12636
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