"Introduction"

[Zouhair Maalej]

Dear all,
Hello. I am an assistant professor of linguistics (University of Tunis
I). I have been involved in different courses such as grammar,
composition, introduction to linguistics, translation studies,
comparative stylistics/rhetoric (Arabic-English), which are all
approached from the perspective of language use.
    My first contact with academic research was in contrastive
linguistics ("A Contrastive Analysis of English and Tunisian Arabic
Complement Sentences," 1983), which introduced me to formal linguistics
and syntactic argumentation. My main thesis, however, as if by reaction
to the frustration I felt with lifeless sentences took me into the realm
of discourse analysis ("Metaphor in Politics and Economics Texts,"
1990). The main contribution of this thesis consisted in showing the
limitations (at the time I started writing it this needed demonstrating)
of the view of metaphoric discourse as a characteristic feature of
literary discourse, with all the relevant implications.
    My transactions with discourse have been more practical than
theoretical. I have investigated metaphorical discourse (its making,
processing, domains, and translation) and the discourse of advertising
(with special reference to sociolinguistic perception, gender
translation, the linguistics of persuasion). I have also attempted to
submit some traditionally grammatical categories (modals and passives)
to a discourse-based account (namely, an cognitive-cum-pragmatic
perspective). I have an ambitious project in mind: the expression of
ideological stance in discourse, where I intend to show the failure of
formal treatments (purely prescriptive in nature in academic settings)
of categories such as determination, passivization, tense and aspect,
conditionality, modality, speech and thought presentation, and adopt a
broader discoursal framework.
    In a course I teach labelled "Comparative Stylistics" (a kind of
modern contrastive rhetoric), I approach DISCOURSE in a yet different
light. The course includes comparing Arabic and English with special
reference, among other things, to the use of features of orality and
literacy, the different devices of coherence and cohesion, the different
linguistic resources (co-ordination, subordination, sentence types,
etc.) and their stylistic differences, and standards of textuality.

    If any of you are interested in what I am doing or in having a look
at some of my papers, they are welcome to contact me directly through my
e-mail (zmaalej at gnet.tn).

Thanks for your patience.
Zouhair