Dispute rhétorique autour de la signification du voile intégral en France: de signe de sujétion à celui de liberté

This paper studies discursive and rhetoric dimensions of press debate on full face veil law (2009-2010) in France, also known as « integral veil affair », with the aim of analyzing appropriations of secular and religious repertories and making intelligible an inversion of discourse strategies. While the opponents to this law (especially religious actors) mobilize secular arguments to defend tolerance principles,the supporters of this law (notably political majority representatives) use moral and dogmatic arguments to justify the legitimacy of interdicting this Muslim sign, identified as radical. Following a socio-discursive approach, the study of communicational dimension of religious publicization phenomenon will enable the comprehension of full face veil as a sign whose signification is at the center of a power struggle held inside speeches and by means of rhetorical disputes over its meaning.