Arabic-L:LING:Call for Papers:Arabic Urban Vernaculars

[Dilworth Parkinson]

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1) Subject:Call for Papers:Arabic Urban Vernaculars

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1)
Date: 12 Sep 2003
From: Catherine Miller <miller at mmsh.univ-aix.fr>
Subject:Call for Papers:Arabic Urban Vernaculars

Call for Papers

International Workshop on
“Arabic Urban Vernaculars: The Effects of Migration and Social Changes”

Date: 20-23 October 2004(approximately)

Place: Aix en Provence, France

Organizing Committee :  Catherine Miller (Iremam, Aix en Provence,  
France), Louis Jean Calvet (University of Aix en Provence), Dominique  
Caubet (Cream, Inalco, Paris, France), Clive Holes (University of  
Oxford),  L. Messaouidi (Un. of Kenitra, Morocco), Jonathan Owens  
(University of Bayreuth), Angeles Vicente (IEIOP, University of  
Zaragoza), Janet Watson (University of Durham), Enam Al Wer (University  
of  Essex)

The main aim of the workshop is to investigate the impact of migration  
and of new forms of urbanization upon the development of Arabic urban  
vernaculars. The concerned scientific discipline is primarily  
sociolinguistics, but also urban sociology, urban anthropology, and  
urban history.  The geographic area covered is the Arabic-speaking  
world including countries with a complex multilingual setting. The  
workshop has two main goals. The first is to assess the state of the  
field in Arabic Urban sociolinguistics and to provide a more  
comprehensive and global understanding of the dynamics of urbanization  
in the Arab world as compared to other parts of the world. The second  
is to identify priorities for future researches and to  strengthen  
research capacity by building up an international multi-disciplinary  
network of  researchers working on Arab cities.

Scientific aims
Migration to urban centres has been one of the major social phenomena  
of the 20th century in Arab countries. It has led to important social,  
cultural and linguistic changes. The settlement of millions of migrants  
has raised the question of their integration within the city. At the  
linguistic level, these migration and urbanization trends have led to  
an increasing contact between the various dialects or vernaculars. In a  
number of Arab countries, the vernacular of the capital-city tends to  
become the (unofficial) national vernacular. However, the Arab world  
presents very different types and degrees of urbanization (from well  
established old capital-cities such as Cairo to new emerging  
capital-cities such as Amman or Nouakchott), as well as different types  
of national construction.
The workshop aims at a better understanding of the history,  
development, evolution and transformation of the various Arabic urban  
linguistic settings. By taking into account the history and social  
context of each case-city, it will help to assess the degree of  
correlation between types of urban settings on the one hand, and  
linguistic change in the urban vernaculars on the other. One of the  
main questions to be addressed concerns the linguistic repercussions of  
urbanisation and the degree of correlation between social structures  
and language change.
The Arab linguistic urban setting raises many questions concerning the  
dynamics of homogeneization/differentiation and the processes of  
standardization due to the coexistence of different prestigious  
linguistic models (Classical Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic, Foreign  
languages, urban vernaculars, Bedouin/rural vernaculars) that reflect  
different sources of legitimacy (religion, education, urban status,  
tribal prestige, etc.). Historically, there are some examples of  
competition and struggle between urban models and Bedouin/rural models.  
Geographically there is a wide range of sociolinguistic situations and  
the trends of homogenisation in some cities seem stronger than those in  
other cities. Today, globalization, weakening of the state, emergence  
or reinforcement of regionalism/localism, and new technologies of  
communication have modified the sociolinguistic context, and have  
created new habits and new perceptions that need to be investigated.
The question of communal affiliation versus other type of affiliation  
will be one of the main themes of the programme. The workshop aims to a  
comparative analysis between Maghreb and Mashrek and between different  
types of cities: old urban centres versus new urban centres; expanding  
capital-cities versus provincial cities, stable cities versus cities  
that went through dramatic transformation or events; cities with  
well-known communal varieties versus more homogeneous cities, cities  
within a rural environment versus cities within a former Bedouin  
environment, etc.
Preliminary panels include
-Urbanity versus “citadinity” (e.g. new urbanites versus old urbanites)  
in North African urban centers: the transformation of urban models in  
cities like Algiers, Casablanca, Fez, Oran, Rabat, Tripoli, Tunis, etc.
- Impact of war and Political changes in Middle Eastern Cities : the  
urban transformation of cities like Aden, Beirut, Sanaa, Palestinian  
cities
- old urban centers versus emerging urban centers in the Middle East  
and Gulf countries: the issue of urban standard versus communal  
varieties in cities like Alexandria, Amman, Bahrain,  Cairo, Damascus,  
Jeddah
- Arabic as an Urban language in multilingual countries (Chad,  
Mauritania, Nigeria, Sudan)
- youth language and new cultural models in North Africa and Middle  
East: multilingualism, code-switching, music, etc.
- impact of new technologies (internet, MSN, TV satellites etc.) and of  
globalization on urban languages

Dead line for Proposal and Papers
The Workshop intends to be an efficient working arena. Proposals  
(300-500 words) should be sent before 20th of October 2003 to the  
Organizing Committee through Dr Catherine Miller     in RTF Format only.
Selected participants should have to send the written version of their  
papers (50,000 c.) two months before the Workshop (i.e. beginning  
August 2004). Papers will be discussed by appointed Discussants.  
Authors who do not send their written  paper before the Workshop will  
not be accepted.
In order to enhance inter-communication the Working Language will be  
English if possible and French if necessary.  Revised versions of the  
papers will be published in a collective publication in cha allah.

Funding
Funding is going to be asked through various institutions in order to  
hopefully provide participants with travel and accommodation. For this  
reason it is important that you reply quickly,
For the Organizing Comittee
  The Workshop Convenor
Dr Catherine Miller, Iremam-MMSH, 5 Av. chateau de l’Horloge, BP 647,  
13094 Aix en Provence France
TEL 	(33) 04 42 52 41 76  /  FAX	 (33) 04 42 52 43 72

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End of Arabic-L: 12 Sep 2003