Considering the language(s) : power and limitations
Penser le(s) langage(s) : pouvoir et limites
Published on Thursday, April 11, 2024
Abstract
GRAPHÉ, our junior research laboratory, will hold its first symposium. This symposium is open to junior as well as experienced researchers and mainly aims at understanding and analysing the ways in which language can be manipulated in contexts of power. It welcomes researchers from various disciplines and fields of study wishing to work on vastly different eras and places, so that the approaches may be diverse and echo one another in a fruitful discussion. As the laboratory also engages in an epistemological approach, the symposium will enable the participants to take part in a questioning of the means and methods available to researchers in order to perceive the tangibility of actions through language.
Announcement
Argument
GRAPHÉ (Groupement de Recherche sur l’Action Philologique et Humaine au prisme Épistémologique) is a junior research laboratory founded in 2024 at Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne, France. It aims at conducting an incipient study of the ways in which languages influence and are influenced by human actions. The first symposium organised by GRAPHÉ will focus on the political dimension of language. As it is perceived by other individuals, language, whether it be written, oral, literary or even figurative, can become political, as long as it is received and interpreted by an individual. There appears to be a power dynamic inherent to expressing and receiving language, which can be found in political misrepresentations, doublespeak or even in silence, which can be imposed – deliberately or not – to or by those in power, effectively limiting the potentiality for action.
GRAPHÉ will hold its first symposium on October, 24th and 25th 2024, at Université Jean Monnet, Saint-Étienne. This symposium is open to junior as well as experienced researchers and mainly aims at understanding and analysing the ways in which language can be manipulated in contexts of power. It welcomes researchers from various disciplines and fields of study wishing to work on vastly different eras and places, so that the approaches may be diverse and echo one another in a fruitful discussion. As the laboratory also engages in an epistemological approach, the symposium will enable the participants to take part in a questioning of the means and methods available to researchers in order to perceive the tangibility of actions through language.
Following this general line of analysis, proposals focusing on the following issues (non-exhaustive list) will be considered to rethink the link between power and language :
A – Language and power through the prism of NLP
Computational linguistics, and especially when pertaining to the fields of NLP (Natural Language Processing) and NLE (Natural Language Engineering), have evolved tremendously over the last decade, one can think, for instance, of computerised language processing, artificial intelligence or automated translators. This evolution, however, does not come without challenges : language is, by essence, ambiguous, as it includes considerations on the world and exists in a social system which it can affect. How can artificial intelligence take into account the social system within which languages exist ? How can these systems be integrated into human interactions, and according to which sociotechnical modalities ? What are the limitations concurrent to these developing systems ? How can the language of IAs be analysed and understood, and how can it be linked to power dynamics ?
B – Language and images, the language of images, and imagery
Pr. Geneviève Jacquinot, in Langue française (nº 24, 1974), asserted that “exploring images is left […] to the initiative of the one watching them”. Images are not subjected to syntactical rules, and as such, they could allow for a greater freedom of analysis, with various levels of understanding. Therefore an image, as an objet d’art, follows its own language structure, through specific rules, and the – erroneous – idea that images would be more tangible than speech thus already puts into question the limitations of such a language. If both systems – language and images – can coexist in order to make speech more intelligible (through a language full of imagery, for instance) in a daily, apolitical context, they can also be distorted and used in commercial speech (in advertisement) or in political speech (with propaganda). As such, how do images come together with advertising techniques ? In an authoritarian political context, how are language and images put to use to indoctrinate the masses ? Are there limitations to such uses ? How, more generally speaking, can one apprehend the power of language and its use by power structures ?
C – Reconstructing the power dynamics in historical sources
Studying language interactions in historical texts allows for a better understanding of the relationships between individuals – especially when they depend on power dynamics – whether it be through a historical, a linguistic or a sociological prism. These sources, because of their preservation or the points of view they feature, are always fragmentary, which, in turn, questions the way researchers can piece the relationships and the dynamics back together to reconstruct a specific vision of reality. Can we analyse past language interactions in spite of their fragmentary nature ? How can the biases that appear in sources be understood? How can researchers be certain that they interpret the linguistic indicators of power dynamics correctly?
D – Artistic and literary manipulation on the edge of language
In art, language has to be apprehended with a critical distance, as it can be the result of a manipulation on the part of its author. It can first be understood as a way to relay – deliberately or not – the author’s subjectivity and own vision of the world, but it can also take part in a form of creative manipulation experimenting with the limitations of the creative process, as compared to accepted norms and genres. Such an analysis begs the question of the role of the author : does language make them omnipotent ? If that were the case, the reader/spectator would fall prey to the author’s manipulating process, which questions the limitations of language : how can language become a tool for power dynamics, and how efficient can it prove to be ?
These issues can be analysed jointly or separately, but all papers must question the way researchers can apprehend the link between power and language.
Submission guidelines
Candidates should :
- submit an abstract (300-400 words)
- submit a short biography mentioning recent publications (200 words)
Abstracts can be submitted in English or in French.
Propositions should be sent to graphelabojunior@gmail.com
no later than June 9, 2024
All propositions will be answered by June 17, 2024.
Papers from the symposium will be considered for publication following the event.
Scientific committee
- Adrien Bresson, doctoral student in Latine language and literature at Université de Lyon–Saint-Étienne (HISOMA).
- Blandine Demotz, doctoral student in English studies at CY Cergy-Paris Université (Héritages).
- Benjamin Dufour, doctoral student in historical linguistics at École normale supérieure (AOrOc).
- Zoé Stibbe, doctoral student in Hispanic studies at Université Paris III (CREC).
Subjects
Places
- Université Jean Monnet - rue Tréfilerie
Saint-Étienne, France (42)
Event attendance modalities
Hybrid event (on site and online)
Date(s)
- Sunday, June 09, 2024
Attached files
Keywords
- langage, pouvoir, penser
Contact(s)
- Graphé Laboratoire
courriel : graphelabojunior [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- Adrien Bresson
courriel : seminaireallhis2025 [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Considering the language(s) : power and limitations », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, April 11, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/w732
