La notion de <i>figure</i>:propositions méthodologiques pour une approche comparée du genre <i>interview de presse</i> en français et en japonais

The aim of this paper is to address the methodological problems which arisewhen comparing the same type of texts - press interviews - written in twodifferent languages: French and Japanese. The paper will propose a frameworkapplicable to both languages and capable of accounting for the mechanismswhich structure the presentation of the self within the genre of the pressinterview. A term-by-term comparison between the two sets of markers in Frenchand Japanese would not be illuminating, since each system employs differentmechanisms for expressing subjectivits. Given the need to go beyond thelinguistic markers, I shall make use instead of the notion of "figure", which directsour attention to the various participants in the interview, namely, interviewee,interviewer, press-writer, and reader. It is, therefore, the recourse to this notion of "figure" which provides an equivalent entry point into both the French and theJapanese texts.