Evaluations are a matter of daily routine. One chooses, classifies, compares, and the very acts of evaluation are often legitimated and reflected upon. Seldom are evaluations restricted to specific contexts , they can hardly be reduced to particular objects, and are not necessary always following conventions, rules, or standards. Indeed, on several occasions, evaluations structure the context of their utterance. In such less formalized situations it becomes especially important to first highlight evaluations as such and then to reconstruct their references; (...) this requires a theoretical perspective on evaluative acts as well as a methodological device for their investigation. The research of Alain Cottereau and Mokhtar Mohatar Marzok offers important insights in both respects. These exigencies become increasingly stringent when confronted with the puzzling l .. (shrink)