The Functions of Language in "Lettres à ses amis" by Mouloud Feraoun

Abstract

This article examines the epistolary correspondence in Mouloud Feraoun’s literary work “Lettres à ses amis”. It mainly aims to study the language functions employed in these letters according to Jakobson’s categorization (1963), as well as the traces of subjectivity and privacy. This paper analyzes the personality of Feraoun through his letters, and infers the characteristics of this writer’s epistolary. This article also examines Feraoun’s work from its conception to its final publication. We argue in this paper that the epistolary is not only a means of information and communication but also a revelation of secrets and disclosure of individual privacy using several elements and clues that belong to language functions.