The approach presented in this paper is based on a principle which originates from recent publications on polyphonie : the discourse is fundamentally seen as a set of representations, and discursive strategies are relationships between two (or more) viewpoints. The author focuses more particularly on constructions which represent the speaker’s attitude towards a given viewpoint. Comme si A appears to be one of those constructions. A distinction is made between basic properties of comme si A on the one hand, and specific properties – due to the combination of comme si A with a given context – on the other. The author then shows how it is possible to account for such a variety by resorting to the concept of a linguistic continuum defined by two extremes : stratégie de contestation and stratégie d’atténuation.