Pour une approche pluridisciplinaire du langage: Le cas du whitisage chez des migrants camerounais à Paris

This article aims to show the need for a multidisciplinary approach to the study of language in its social context, from the analysis of the practice of whitisage among francophone Cameroonian immigrants in Paris. This practice consists in "talking like a white person", by imitating the standard pronunciation of the interlocutor. After defining language as a social practice inseparable from the others, I argue, through the analysis of the actors' discourses on their own language practices, that a multidisciplinary approach, at the intersection of linguistics, sociology, social psychology and history, is essential for understanding the social implications of the practice of whitisage in a migration context, and its role in the negotiation of inter-ethnic relations. Finally, I conclude on the interest of analysing language to understand complex social processes such as migration.