Issue nr. 2 vol. 12 (2025) will focus on the following theme: Analyse du discours française et études linguistiques : trajectoires de recherche actuelles and will be edited by Julien Longhi (CY – Cergy Paris Université) and Giuliano Rossi (Università degli Studi di Milano), with the collaboration of Claudia Cagninelli (Università degli Studi di Milano) and Nora Gattiglia (Università degli Studi di Genova). Authors are invited to submit a paper of no more than 6,500 words (corresponding to 20 pages of approximately 2,250 characters, including spaces). If the text contains figures, these must be included in the standard length of 20 pages. From the home page you will have to follow the For Authors link. All submitted works considered suitable for publication will undergo an anonymous double-blind review process.
Deadlines: Deadline for papers submission: January 15th, 2025
Contacts: LCM-journal@ledonline.it; giuliano.rossi@unimi.it; claudia.cagninelli@unimi.it; nora.gattiglia@edu.unige.it
Rationale: From the 1960s onwards, an original current of research (Maingueneau 1995) began to develop in France, focussing on the question of discourse in relation to its conditions of production, circulation and reception. From the outset, what is now known as “French discourse analysis” (“Analyse du discours française”, Moirand 2020; ADF henceforth) has been marked by a strong interdisciplinarity that is intrinsic to it (Longhi 2018). The first and strongest bonds were forged with sociology, but close links were also soon established with history and, subsequently, with anthropology. In more recent years, such disciplines as political science, communication science and computer science have also contributed to the development of ADF. The highly developed interdisciplinarity of ADF means that researchers need to clarify the foundations and boundaries of their research, as well as their own positioning. As Julien Longhi points out (ibid.), it is necessary “both to position oneself in relation to the practices that run through contemporary work in discourse analysis, and to define what might constitute an evolution of the discipline in the light of its own inflections ”. While a number of theoretical and methodological foundations are shared by linguistic studies in ADF, they are nonetheless subject to (re)questioning and adaptations that vary according to the research’s objects and goals. The dynamicity and fertility of works in ADF has evolved over time, also thanks to the contributions – with their varied approaches – of different “generations” (Angermuller 2017) that mark significant epistemological and methodological milestones (Mazière 2005; Raus 2019). While the initial studies focussed on linguistic materiality from a distributional-quantitative perspective and on the ideological implications of socio-political discourse, the role of enunciation and the pragmatic and dialogical dimensions of discursive activity were given particular prominence by ADF studies in the 1980s. The relationship between language, subject and history – the central triad of thought in this field (Mazière 2005) – was also re-examined in the light of the cognitive dimension of discourse, as shown by the notion of “prédiscours” introduced by Marie-Anne Paveau (2006). Finally, from a methodological point of view, the use of computerised methods of analysis, particularly of a lexicometric, textometric or logometric nature – depending on how the names have evolved over the years – has been a feature of many works in this field from the outset, as can be seen from the title of one of seminal reference works by Michel Pêcheux’s Analyse automatique du discours (1969). The temporal and transnational developments in linguistic studies in ADF highlight, on the one hand, the “extraordinary scope, both heuristic and hermeneutic” of its concepts and methods (Paissa 2019), and, on the other, the existence of a francophone discourse analysis network (Raus 2019), which shares theoretical and methodological foundations while reinterpreting them in different ways. Between lines of continuity and innovation, ADF today finds itself at several crossroads. The first concerns its relationship with its past and with the notional and methodological frameworks inherited from previous generations: to what extent has it renewed itself, and in what aspects has this renewal been most promising? Secondly, and at the same time, ADF has now transcended the national borders indicated by the ‘F’ in its acronym. To the “French” trends we could now add “Brazilian”, “Italian”, “European” and “African” trends, or question the relevance of any geographical label (cf. Paveau 2010) rather than again other qualifications. Finally, the third crossroad at which ADF stands concerns its disciplinary status, which at least partly overlaps with the issues mentioned above. Dominique Maingueneau (2010) has also noted the sometimes blurred nature of its margins and its tendency to innovate and transform, stressing the constitutive instability that results from the very status of discourse (Maingueneau 1995). The ADF’s ability to be fertilized by other disciplines and by different corpora can be seen as an asset; at the same time, the theoretical fertility and heterogeneity of perspectives raise questions about the boundaries of its field and the frameworks to be favoured. Sophie Moirand (2020) also highlights the question of the researcher’s “anxiety” about the concepts and categories to choose for the analysis. The researcher’s incertitude stems (to quote, perhaps improperly, a landmark work by the “first generation” of French analysts) from the “inquiétude du discours” (Pêcheux 1990, edited by D. Maldidier), and makes it necessary to take stock of the advances and changes in ADF, and what it means to be part of this current (approach, field, discipline, etc.) today. Epistemological reflection is an inherent part of research in this field, as Françoise Dufour and Laurence Rosier (2012) highlight, and also retrace the various works that have been devoted to it. In fact, this need for self-reflexivity seems to be felt cyclically by specialists in ADF, and recently even outside its country of origin, as shown by initiatives such as the collective work edited by Rachele Raus in 2019, Partage des savoirs et influence culturelle: l’analyse du discours “à la française” hors de France, and the issue of Synergies-Italie devoted to French discourse analysis in Italy (Sini & Bisiani, forthcoming). Like the last two works, this thematic issue of Lingue Culture Mediazioni will set out to examine the geographical and academic boundaries of ADF. It will also pay particular attention to the question of disciplinary contamination and, above all, to future developments. The thematic issue “Analyse du discours française et études linguistiques: trajectoires de recherche actuelles/French Discourse Analysis and Linguistic Studies: Current Research Trajectories” aims to expand on the reflections that fuelled two initiatives organised in Italy in 2023. These were, respectively, a series of seminars on the reception of ADF in this country, and an international study day organised under the patronage of the Do.Ri.F., which focussed on the issues and perspectives characterising current discourse studies, with a view to encouraging dialogue between different disciplines (ADF, Critical Discourse Analysis, history, ethnology). The exploratory and reflexive journey begun with these initiatives will be at the core of this issue of Lingue Culture Mediazioni. Its aim is, first, to discuss how some of the distinctive concepts of ADF are being used in the light of current research; and, second, to acknowledge as well as encourage openings to disciplinary hybridisations that can be found in contemporary research. The issue aims to focus on two main, albeit non-exclusive, axes: - Axis 1: Diachronic developments in ADF: conventionally, we recognise three stages in discourse analysis as it has developed in France, each characterised by specific interests and coherent methodologies. Papers in this area will examine the state of the art of discourse analysis today in different national academic contexts, as well as the possible emergence of a “fourth generation” of discourse analysts, the specific characteristics of which will be highlighted, whether they exist or are advocated. Also, as part of a reflection on theoretical and methodological approaches, the authors may address the question of the analyst's position throughout the research process: from the selection of the type of discourse to be analysed, to the creation of the corpus, to the more properly hermeneutic intervention. Contributions on the evolution of key notions of ADF as they are understood and applied today in linguistic studies will also be accepted. - Axis 2: Transitions and pathways of concepts specific to ADF: developments may be diachronic (axis 1) or geographical and disciplinary. The main research question of axis 2 addresses the relationship with other disciplines, whether this means integrating new notions and methods within ADF, or contributing to other disciplines: researchers working in other disciplines are invited to present the notional and methodological tools specific to ADF that have been incorporated and occasionally reinterpreted in other disciplines, including those outside Linguistics. Proposals concerning the intersections and divergences within “discourse studies” (Angermuller, Maingueneau, Wodak 2014), and in particular between ADF and (Critical) Discourse Analysis, will also be considered.
References: Angermuller, J. (2017). Renouons avec les enjeux critiques de l’Analyse du Discours. Vers les Études du discours. Langage et société, 160-161, 145-161. Angermuller, J., Maingueneau, D. & Wodak, R. (2014). The Discourse Studies Reader. An Introduction. In Angermuller, J., Maingueneau, D. & Wodak, R. (eds.), The Discourse Studies Reader. Main currents in theory and analysis. Amsterdam/Philadelphia, John Benjamins, 1-14. Dufour, F. & Rosier, L. (2012). Introduction. Héritages et reconfigurations conceptuelles de l'analyse du discours «à la française»: perte ou profit ?. Langage et société, 140, 5-13. Longhi, J. (2018). Du discours comme champ au corpus comme terrain. Contribution méthodologique à l’analyse sémantique du discours. Paris, l’Harmattan. Maingueneau, D. (1995) Présentation. In: Langages, 117, 5-11. Maingueneau, D. (ed.) (1995). Langages, 117: Les analyses du discours en France. Mazière, F. (2005). L’analyse du discours. Histoire et pratiques. Paris, Presses universitaires de France. Moirand, S. (2020). Retour sur l’analyse du discours française. Pratiques [En ligne], 185-186. http://journals.openedition.org/pratiques/ 8721 Paissa, P. (2019). Préface. In Raus, R. (ed.), Partage des savoirs et influence culturelle: l’analyse du discours «à la française» hors de France, Gerflint, collection Essais francophones, 5-10. Paveau, M.-A. (2006). Les prédiscours: Sens, mémoire, cognition. Paris: Presses Sorbonne nouvelle. Paveau, M.-A. (2010). Présentation. Semen, 29, 7-14. Pêcheux, M. (1969). Analyse automatique du discours. Paris, Dunod. Maldidier, D. (ed.) (1990). L'inquiétude du discours. Textes de Michel Pêcheux. Paris, Cendres. Raus, R. (2019). Introduction. In Raus, R. (ed.), Partage des savoirs et influence culturelle: l’analyse du discours «à la française» hors de France, Gerflint, collection Essais francophones, 11-27. Raus, R. (ed.) (2019). Partage des savoirs et influence culturelle : l’analyse du discours « à la française » hors de France, Gerflint, collection Essais francophones. Sini, L. & Bisiani, F. (eds.) (forthcoming). Synergies Italie: L’analyse du discours en Italie: état des lieux et perspectives. |