| Through a (critical) discourse analysis approach, I would like to present and question the "starification" of the ex-captain of the French national soccer team. Looking carefully into a French newspaper collection of articles, I will focus on three important dates, his first announcement of retirement from the national team, his comeback and the final of the World Cup. The way we name objects or persons, express our opinions, points of view and relations with this object and person. Regarding the theoretical basis, I will start with Siblot's theory of naming with a combination of rhetoric and argumentation (Maingueneau and Amossy...). Thus, I will combine this study with a broader consideration of sport as a way of integration. After 1998, and the world title, the national team has been promoted as an example and even more, a prototype of the "winning" France. Zidane has always appeared as a leader, concretely as the captain on the field (most of the time) but also in the media as the perfect immigrant son from Northern Africa. |
Export this paper
