This article aims to analyse discursive strategies used in polemics by the protagonists of political debate. An analysis is provided of extracts from the debate between Nicolas Sarkozy and Ségolène Royal for the French 2007 presidential election, focusing on discursive strategies that the debaters adopted to destroy their opponent’s discourse and image and to gain the upper hand in the debate. The functioning of polemics is examined at three levels: the discourse level, where two antagonistic discourses coexist; the level of the interpersonal relationship that the debaters build in interaction; the interlocution level, where turn-taking is constantly disputed.
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