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Phantom Arabic in Maghrebi Postcolonial Cultural Production (ACLA 2018)

Phantom Arabic in Maghrebi Postcolonial Cultural Production (ACLA 2018)

Publié le par Marc Escola (Source : www.acla.org)

CALL FOR PAPERS / APPEL A CONTRIBUTIONS

CONTRIBUTIONS IN ENGLISH OR IN FRENCH

CONTRIBUTIONS EN ANGLAIS OU EN FRANCAIS

 

AMERICAN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE ASSOCIATE

29 MARCH – 1 APRIL 2018

AT UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES (UCLA)

 

PLEASE CONTACT AMIZE ZIDOUH a.zidouh@umiami.edu

SVP CONTACTEZ AMINE ZIDOUH a.zidouh@miami.edu

ABSTRACTS MUST BE POSTED ON THE ACLA WEBPAGE BETWEEN SEPTEMBER 1 AND SEPTEMBER 23

LES PROPOSITIONS DE COMMUNICATION DOIVENT ETRE AFFICHEES SUR LE SITE INTERNET DE ACLA ENTRE LE 1ER ET LE 23 SEPTEMBRE

www.acla.org

 

Phantom Arabic in Maghrebi Postcolonial Cultural Production

Organizer: Amine Zidouh

The word ‘Arabic’ is used to refer to the official language of more than 24 countries. Yet, this word is understood differently, and indeed sometimes contradictorily, by different people. For the layperson, ‘Arabic’ is one language that people in the so-called “Arab-world” speak. For many academics, Arabic is a language that has two facets, a high and a low variety; a discourse mainly influenced by Ferguson’s 1959 work on Diglossia. This multiplicity of discourses is indeed at best confusing, if not misleading. A scrupulous review of the literature shows that, what is usually referred to as ‘Arabic’ in a variety of fields, be they related to the teaching of ‘Arabic’ as a foreign language for example, is in fact what is referred to in linguistic terms as Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). This variety differs from ‘Classical Arabic’ and from what some people refer as ‘the vernaculars’. MSA is referred to nowadays as the language of ‘education’, of a certain class, etc. its use is also associated with a certain symbolic significance, power and prestige. The very same words and aspects that were once associated with Latin. The vernaculars of Latin, are indeed what we call now: Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, etc. How far is the Arabic situation from the Late Latin one? In this seminar, we will try to look at the uses of languages such as Darija, Amazigh languages, and all other languages that exist in the region and that have a dialectic relationship with Arabic in several cultural forms; ranging from literature, music, theatre and cinema and explore the future of what is referred to as ‘Arabic’ vis-à-vis its ‘vernaculars’ in contemporary creative, fictional as well as non-fictional work.

Arabic is indeed a language that is only used in certain domains. Religiously speaking it is the language of the Quran. Politically, it is the ‘official’ language of many countries from the so-called Arab world. Artistically speaking, it is the language used for a vast body of literature. But just like Latin in the 17th century, it is a language that, some argue, has no native speakers. Mohamed Nedali, quoted by Fouad Laroui in “Le Drame Linguistique Marocain” states that from a very young age he was confronted to five languages “Tamazight during (his) early childhood, then MSA at school at the same time as Darija ‘at the school’s yard’ as that was the language he used to communicated with his classmates, then very soon French as a paradoxical ‘foreign’ language, paradoxical because all the scientific subjects were taught in that language and finally a ‘real’ foreign language: English”. This quote is a perfect example of the internal struggle that such authors and creators go through consciously or unconsciously every time they decide to put pen to paper. This aspect of the link between, author/creator and language in North Africa and the Middle East is the final facet of the situation that this seminar will try to explore.

 

CONTRIBUTIONS ON LANGUAGES IN CONTACT, ON THE ACTUAL OR IMPLIED OR SUBLIMINAL PRESENCE OF ARABIC, AND ON  SOCIO-LINGUISTIC ISSUES IN FRANCOPHONE MAGHREBI LITERATURE, FILM, MEDIA AND OTHER CULTURAL PRODUCTIONS ARE WELCOMED.

 

DES CONTRIBUTIONS SUR LES LANGUES EN CONTACT, SUR LA PRESENCE EFFECTIVE OU IMPLICITE OU SUBLIMINALE DE L’ARABE, ET SUR DES QUESTIONS DE SOCIO-LINGUISTIQUE DANS LA LITTERATURE, LE CINEMA, LES MEDIA ET D’AUTRES PRODUCTIONS CULTURELLES FRANCO-MAGHREBINES SONT LES BIENVENUES.