D’ailleurs, plutôt que de s’essouffler, l’exercice de l’autorité n’est-il pas simplement en train d’emprunter un nouveau visage et de nouvelles techniques discursives ? Quelles sont donc ces stratégies verbales déployées par les détenteurs du pouvoir à travers les différentes époques historiques? Et par quelles stratégies, similaires ou différentes, ces détenteurs se font-ils remplacer par de nouvelles autorités ? Voilà quelques-unes des questions auxquelles le colloque tentera de répondre.

Qu’elles aient pour objet l’autorité en politique (les discours de campagne électorale par exemple), en milieu pédagogique (la relation enseignant/apprenant), ou en milieu culturel (l’autorité patriarcale), toutes les propositions ayant trait à la thématique du colloque sont les bienvenues. A titre non exhaustif, nous vous proposons les axes de discussion suivants :

Autorité et politique :

• Autorité et censure
• Discours et domination coloniale
• Discours de la résistance:
  • Opposants, dissidents, syndicalistes
  • « L’Empire contre-attaque »

Autorité et « guerre des sexes »:

• Le(s) discours du patriarcat
• Le(s) discours du féminisme

Autorité et littérature :

• Représentation de l’autorité en littérature
• Hiérarchie des genres littéraires
• Canons littéraires
• Institutions et prix littéraires
• Influences littéraires

Autorité et monde académique:

• Autorité et savoir
• Citations et arguments d’autorité
• Evolution de la relation enseignant-enseigné
• Les langues du colloque sont l’anglais, français et l’arabe.

Comité scientifique (par ordre alphabétique) :

• ARAB Si Abderrahmane, Université de Boumerdès
• BENABED Fella, Université d’Annaba
• BENAOUDA Habiba, Université de Boumerdès
• BENGUESMIA Mahdia, Université de Batna
• BOUKERMA Fatima-Zohra, Université de Boumerdès
• CAREY Daniel, Université Nationale d’Irlande, Galway
• CHOUITEN Lynda, Université de Boumerdès
• DINE Philip, Université nationale d’Irlande, Galway
• FORSDICK Charles, Université de Liverpool
• GUERIN Jean-Yves, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle - Paris III

Authority and Its Discourses
International Conference
Department of Foreign Languages, University of Boumerdès
October 19-21, 2014

What is authority? How does it manifest itself? We know, since Foucault, that it can take different, and often subtle, aspects; we also know that it is inseparable from discourse. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault explains that seemingly more or less neutral institutions like schools, hospitals, and art make use of discursive mechanisms to set norms and hierarchies. Authority is usually held by those who represent the norm and occupy the highest positions in hierarchy; it seems, thus, to be inseparable from order. Yet there is also a form of authority that one may term “subversive” or “non-official”. One thinks, for example, of the fascination exerted by heroic outlaws and, sometimes, by outright bandits. One also thinks of the status of saintliness bestowed on fools and madmen in some cultures. On the other hand, “official” authority may be contested, as when political leaders are caricatured or when teachers and employers see their decisions questioned. The very concept of authority is frowned upon in our “democratic” times. A more “horizontal”, that is, egalitarian relationship, is encouraged in professional as well as pedagogic contexts; and social markers are becoming obsolete.

The objective of the “Authority and its Discourses” conference is to reflect first on the discursive strategies whereby authority is constructed, manifested, resisted, and overthrown and, second, on the representation of authority in popular, literary, and media discourses, among others. What role does authority play in political and social organization? Should one plead for stricter or more flexible authority? Is authority the waning, dated concept that it is thought to be or has it merely put on a new garb and borrowed new discursive techniques? What are, precisely, the rhetorical strategies deployed by authority holders all through history? And what similar or different strategies of resistance come to overthrow these holders and replace them by new authority representatives? These are some of the questions that the conference will attempt to answer.

Whether their subject be authority in politics (election campaign speeches, for example), in academia (the teacher/learner relationship), or in culture (patriarchal authority), all proposals pertaining to the conference theme are welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

Authority and politics:

• Authority and propaganda
• Authority and censorship
• The discourse(s) of colonial domination
• The discourse(s) of resistance
  • Opponents, dissidents, trade unionists
  • “The Empire Writes Back”

Authority and gender:

• The discourse(s) of patriarchy
• The discourse(s) of feminism

Authority and literature:

• Representation of authority in literature
• The hierarchy of literary genres
• Literary canons
• Literary prizes and institutions
• Literary influence

Authority and academia:

• Knowledge and authority
• Quotations and authoritative argument
• The evolution of the teacher/learner relationship
• The languages of the conference are English, French, and Arabic.

Scientific Committee (in alphabetical order):

• ARAB Si Abderrahmane, University of Boumerdès
• BENABED Fella, University of Annaba
• BENAOUDA Habiba, University of Boumerdès
• BENGUESMIA Mahdia, University of Batna
• BOUKERMA Fatima-Zohra, University of Boumerdès
• CAREY Daniel, National University of Ireland, Galway
• CHOUITEN Lynda, University of Boumerdès
• DINE Philip, National University of Ireland, Galway
• FORSDICK Charles, University of Liverpool
• GUERIN Jean-Yves, Sorbonne Nouvelle University - Paris 3