Points de vue <i>critiques</i> sur les discours: à propos de <i>culture générale</i> dans les discours de transmission des connaissances

This article partially describes a view on discourse analysis as being a process aiming at identifying the societal sense of words in discourse use, through linguistic techniques. In such a perspective, what might be considered as external to discourse becomes part of analysis. The notion of "culture générale",as it is used in French society, appears to be a good illustation for evaluating such a theoretical frame, as "culture générale" is not easy to perceive in public debates and in scientific/pedagogic discourses. The sense to be given to "culture générale" depends on its position at the end of the knowledge transmission "chain", as shown by dictionaries, on specific Internet sites and in university level handbooks. This "undetermined" kind of knowledge plays a significant role in social distinction, because of its unstability which constantly allows new definitions.