THE SEMANTICS OF SUSPICION IN THE WRITINGS OF DESMOULINS

An exacting command of language in his employ, journalist Camille Desmoulins was
arguably one of the most dangerous and cunning players in the political arena of revolutionary
France. His work is a clear synthesis of linguistic and political theory but what, precisely, made it
so effective? When his work is regarded collectively, a theme emerges wherein Desmoulins uses
language designed to categorically perpetuate suspicion. Using the principles of lexical semantics,
rhetoric, and connotation, this project seeks to examine the semantic undercurrents of
Desmoulins’s works as they relate specifically to the public perception of suspicion, and to define
the linguistic parameters within which he operated. An analysis of selected examples will
demonstrate how the evocative language speaks to the author’s acute cognizance of his audience
and his talent for inflaming the collective unrest through the use of tropes; specifically
dehumanization, personification, and the neologism brissoter. Additionally, a feature analysis of nouns and verbs drawn from a sample of Desmoulins’s work further identifies tropes and atypical
semantic forms and argues that, through his linguistic manipulation, he was able to sow suspicion
among the mercurial Third Estate; both against the monarchy and the ultra-radical Republic.