LINGUIST List 14.3036

Fri Nov 7 2003

Calls: History of Ling/UK; Historical Ling/Germany

Editor for this issue: Marie Klopfenstein <marielinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. david.cram, Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas
2. neis, Frankoromanistentag Freiburg 2004

Henry Sweet Society for the History of Linguistic Ideas 

Date: 13-Sep-2004 - 16-Sep-2004
Location: Jesus College, Oxford, United Kingdom
Contact: David Cram
Contact Email: david.cramjesus.ox.ac.uk 
Meeting URL: http://www.henrysweet.org

Linguistic Sub-field: History of Linguistics

Meeting Description:

This is the annual meeting of the Henry Sweet Society. Papers are
invited on all aspects of the history of ideas about language.
HENRY SWEET SOCIETY
FOR THE HISTORY OF LINGUISTIC IDEAS

Annual Colloquium, 13-16 September 2004
Jesus College, Oxford

First Announcement and Call for Papers

The 2004 Colloquium of the Henry Sweet Society for the History of
Linguistic Ideas will be held from Monday 13 September to Thursday 16
September, 2004, at Jesus College, Oxford. For further information
about the society and updated details of the colloquium, please see
the Society's web-page: http://www.henrysweet.org.

Jesus College is centrally located in Oxford, and is conveniently
located for access to the Bodleian Library and a host of museums and
galleries, many of which have free entry. The College is a short walk
from the bus station (where coaches from Heathrow and Gatwick
arrive). Maps and other travel information can be located via the
links at: http://www.ox.ac.uk/aboutoxford/

Accommodation and meals will available at Jesus College. For those
wishing to arrange their own accommodation, either more palatial or
more spartan, please see links on the website maintained by Oxford
City Council: http://www.visitoxford.org/ which also has a range of
other useful touristic information.

Papers (30 minutes, including discussion) are invited on any aspect of
the history of linguistic ideas. (If the colloquium programme permits,
there may also be a selection of plenary papers of 45 minutes length.)
Please send a title and abstract (max. 250 words) by 31 January, 2004
to the address below; electronic submission of the abstract is
preferred (either by email or on disk, Word or rtf file). Suggestions
for panel discussions or other special sessions are also welcome, and
should be submitted by the same deadline.

Dr David Cram 
Jesus College 
Oxford OX1 3DW 
(david.cramjesus.ox.ac.uk)

Notification of acceptance of proposals will be made by 15 March 2004.

Frankoromanistentag Freiburg 2004

Date: 29-Sep-2004 - 02-Oct-2004
Location: Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany
Contact: Cordula Neis
Contact Email: neisrz.uni-potsdam

Linguistic Sub-field: Historical Linguistics
Call Deadline: 20-Dec-2003

Meeting Description:

Call for papers

Frankoromanistentag at Freiburg im Breisgau 2004

Cordula Neis/ Sybille Gro�e (Universit�t Potsdam)

Section: Language and politics in the French Enlightenment

We would be glad to welcome you to our section during the
Frankoromanistent ag at Freiburg (Sep. 29 to Oct. 2, 2004). If you
would like to take part, please contact us not later than Dec. 20th.
Please send a mail to neisrz.uni-potsdam.de or to
groszerz.uni-potsdam.de

Conference languages are German and French.

Abstract
The French Revolution can, as Ren�e Balibar understood it, be
considered as a linguistic revolution, more precisely even as the only
linguistic revolution in the history of French up to the present. From
the beginning, the Revolution of 1789 was a ''Logomachie'', a ''War of
Words'', in which revolutionaries and counterrevolutionaries blamed
each other for ''abus des mots '', for abusing the language with the
intention to manipulate the people.

The discussion about social and politically relevant meanings of words
had reached its peak during the French Revolution; the political abuse
of words , however, was the subject of considerations of forerunners
of the Enlightenment like Bacon, Hobbes, Pufendorf and Spinoza already
in the 17th century . Afterwards Locke had pointed out that language,
by using a pompous terminology, was even able to lift international
law off its hinges.

Taking up Lockes's considerations, Helv�tius, for whom the abuse of
words becomes an important topic, sees in it the source of
philosophical and religious discussions and also the reason for armed
conflicts. Diderot, too, deals with problems of the critique of
language in his article ''Bassesse'' in the Encyclop�die, in which he
declares himself against a synonymity of ''bassesse'' and
''abjection'' because a connection of terms of (lower) social origin
with a corresponding moral evaluation furthers the instillation of
prejudices.

Rousseau within his social criticism in the Discours de l'in�galit�
also considers language to be an instrument of oppression which
guarantees the maintenance of social differences in favour of the
ruling class. According to Rousseau, language serves as cover-up
tactics for the ruling class who, following the logic of hypocrisy,
uses language to cover up social inequality. Thus, language, on the
one hand, helps the development of a corrupt society, and, at the same
time, reflects this very corruption of the ''civilized'' society.

Apart from Helv�tius, Diderot and Rousseau, authors like Condillac,
d'Alembert, Holbach, Voltaire and Michaelis also take part in the
discussion about the abuse of words. In this section, their
contributions might be dealt with as well as the Neology-Discussion
about Mercier and the efforts of the ''grammarien-patriote'' Urbain
Domergue who, when he founded a "Soci�t� des Amateurs de la Langue
Fran�aise" (1791), worked hard for the spreading of the ''langue
nationale'' and its assertion against regional varieties.