Contact de langues et fonction poétique du changement linguistique

Following Roman Jakobson, this article tries to outline the affinity between linguistic change induced by language contact and conflict, and the poetic function of language. We can observe this phenomenon by studying the discourses of trilingual speakers in the Aosta Valley (Northern Italy). The problematic position of French is reflected and articulated by means of poetic procedures in the interviews, but they allow the creation of a typical regional variety of Italian as well. On the other hand, poetic functions in the discourses of young subjects in French suburbs are an important factor in the emergence of a new French contact variety, the result of complex contacts of languages and cultures and the medium of an ‘interstitial’ contact and conflict culture. We can conclude that the poetic function of language is the laboratory of new legitimate horizons of sense and expression, especially within the dynamics of contacts and conflicts between languages and cultures.