L’objectif de ce colloque est d’aborder la problématique de l’apprentissage au féminin selon les différentes disciplines dont il peut être l’objet, à savoir la littérature, l’histoire et l’histoire de l’art, mais aussi le droit, la linguistique, les études du genre ainsi que les sciences de l’éducation.

Argument

The aim of this symposium is to address the topic of female apprenticeship according to the different disciplines that it may be the subject of, namely literature, history and art history, as well as law, linguistics, gender studies and the sciences of education. The colloquium joins the project Médias au féminin managed by Greta Komur-Thilloy (Université de Haute-Rhin) and Hélène Barthelmebs (Université Paul Valéry).

The starting point is Virginia Woolf, taken as symbol for her engagement in the women’s issue, because she deals with the female position and education in society. Her militant work describes the struggle of women for their independence in order to obtain a social recognition. Like her work, this essay will offer an overview of the literary history of women, which they could reassert their cultural role. In this light, female apprenticeship is considered as an intellectual formation, because of its demand for a desire from women to develop intellectually and artistically as men do.

Literature is thus the starting point of this research, because it devotes a privileged space to the apprenticeship, namely the genre of the female coming-of-age novel. Even if a certain attitude of the formation of the female psychology has already been presented in Pamela by Richardson, the female coming-of-ages novel later developed through the work of Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre.

More recently, interest in the topic has been raised by other disciplines and specifically the birth of gender studies, towards the 60s, has been fundamental in this perspective.

In the political and social field, the female apprenticeship also constitutes a strong contemporary area of reflection, as the numerous conferences of the UNO between 1975 (Conference of Mexico City) and 2000 (Conference of New York) demonstrate. Although feminism has now being studied by several disciplines, feminine learning itself remains a subject which requires further research.

Indeed, what role does learning play in the course of the emancipation of women? That is the question of departure of this symposium, since the apprenticeship process represents the path of women to freedom, to financial, social and cultural independence.

We would like to propose relevant lines of reflection enabling us to address the issue in many different ways. Furthermore, we would like to propose thematic axes which are capable of responding to our problems.

1. The definition of female apprenticeship

This concept can be seen from different angles such as concrete, metaphoric or cultural. This enough large definition could be deepened by the various disciplines which could be interested in it. The object of this section will be women as actresses of their own emancipation through the process of their apprenticeships. The reflection will also deal with the goal and the implications of the female apprenticeship.

2. The relation of men and women in the apprenticeship

The education of women develops in a homocentric society, which tries to limit her formation in order to reaffirm the superiority of men. The interest of this section is to analyze female apprenticeship in its relation with the other gender. We will then focus on the female apprenticeship seen from a male’s perspective or under the control of men and, finally, on its use for the development of male apprenticeship.

3. Female apprenticeship in various geographical and cultural areas

The interest of this section will be in the various characteristics of the female apprenticeship in different periods and cultures. It will not only be about the comparison of dissonant elements, but also the governing principles of the education of women over the centuries and over the world. We want to highlight in this section both the differences and the common points of the apprenticeships.

Moreover, because of the particularity of the place of the symposium, which consists in its geographical position situated in the center of Europe, we would like to dedicate a part of this section to the perception of the female apprenticeship in the cross-border regions.

4. Women in French-speaking countries

This section will focus on the female apprenticeship in the vast territory which we call the world of Francophone. In order to conserve the richness and diversity of this cultural space, this section will be divided into three under-sections in order to separate each zone of research: Islamic women, women from the sub-Saharan Africa and Caribbean women. The purpose is to observe how the women’s apprenticeship develops in these different geographical and cultural areas.

This symposium's objective is to deal with several periods and several disciplines. The preferred working languages of the symposium are French and English, with the aim of favouring a cultural exchange and of underlining the international character of this symposium.

Scientific committee

• Michael Barry (Professor, Princeton University)
• Greta Komur-Thilloy (Professor, Université de Haute-Alsace)
• Hélène Barthelmebs-Raguin (Senior lecturer, Université Paul Valéry)
• Lilla Maria Crisafulli (Professor, Université de Bologne)
• Tiziana Pironi (Professor, Université de Bologne)
• Isabelle Mordellet-Roggenbuck(Professor, Université de Freiburg)
• Karine Bénac-Giroux (Senior lecturer, Université des Antilles et de la Guyane)
• Régine Battiston (Professor, Université de Haute-Alsace)
• Carine Martin (Senior lecturer, Université de Lorraine)
• FrédériqueToudoire-Surlapierre (Professor, Université de Haute-Alsace)
• Alessandra Ballotti (PhD student, Université de Haute-Alsace)
• Inkar Kuramayeva (PhD student, Université de Haute-Alsace)

Organization committee

• Frédérique Toudoire-Surlapierre, frederique.toudoire@uha.fr
• Alessandra Ballotti, alessandra.ballotti@uha.fr
• Inkar Kuramayeva, inkar.kuramayeva@uha.fr

Submission of proposals of communication

The proposals of communication must be sent to the following addresses: alessandra.ballotti@uha.fr, inkar.kuramayeva@uha.fr, frederique.toudoire@uha.fr

before the 30 October 2016.

They have to contain an abstract (with a title) of no more than 200 words as well as your brief biography including your contact details and institutional affiliation.

The accepted papers of the symposium will be published.

Registration fees

40 € per day (30 € for the PhD students), 70 € for two days (50 € for the PhD students). The researchers and the PhD students of the ILLE are exempted from registration fees. The research center will take charge of the accommodation, the catering as well as the publication of the acts of the symposium.

Practical information

Université de Haute-Alsace

Institut de Recherche en Langues et Littératures Européennes (ILLE - EA 4363)

Mulhouse, 9-10 February 2017