Legal discursive formations: a controversial issue

Abstract

This article analyses the speech by some jurists who give their opinion in the media and in legal websites. It discusses the elaborated expressions, that is, the jargon, that such jurists use in their discourse. The opinions of jurists such as lawyers, judges and bailiffs, as well as the opinion of lay people were considered. The purpose is to establish a dialog with the discursive theory, having as references the theoretical work of Foucault, Pêcheux and Gregolin with a focus on the subject approach. This article is divided into two parts. The first part, called Subjectivity: notions about the subject in Foucault and Pêcheux, will present the authors’ theory about what constitute the subject. In the second part, moreover, called The controversy surrounding the legal language, it will be demonstrated how the enunciations coming from different subjects can be analyzed through the discursive theory.