II CENTRAL
AMERICAN SYMPOSIUM ON DISCOURSE STUDIES:
"Societies,
politics and discourses”
Universidad de Costa Rica, April
8-10, 2015
I. Presentation
From
different disciplines and theoretical perspectives, it has been affirmed that
the relevance of socialization and, particularly, of the communicative
interactions in the formation of subjects and society, and the construction of
senses about reality. In this context, the concept of discourse becomes
fundamental with its different meanings, given that this is the notion than can
encompass those communicative interactions, the construction of common (or
social) knowledge, and people’s actions. Independently of the meaning of
“discourse” that is used, it is agreed that communicative interactions must be
studied considering their semiosis (language, tongue, text, discourse), their
sense (meaning), and their context (in the broad sense). Despite the fact that
this is a webbed complex of interrelated elements, discourse studies have had a
boom in the last twenty years around the world and, particularly, in Latin
America.
Central
America and the Caribbean have also joined in this concern for the discourses
and, therefore, to the development of discourse studies. For this reason, in
2013, the I Central American Symposium
on Discourse studies took place at the University of Costa Rica. Almost 100
individuals from different disciplines and countries participated in this event.
One of the outcomes from the academic
encounter was the creation of the Costa Rican affiliate of the Latin American
Association of Discourse Studies (ALED, by its Spanish name), composed of more
than 20 specialists.
In
this context of regional development of discourse studies, the Linguistics Research Institute and the School of Philology, Linguistics and
Literature, of the University of Costa Rica, decided to organize the II
Central American Symposium on Discourse Studies, Jocaed 2015. The event will take place between the 8th
and 10th of April, 2015.
The
electoral processes in different countries of the region (2013, 2014, and 2015)
and their intense discursive fight have made evident the discursive tensions
between dominant and dominated groups, as well as, in those dominants groups
themselves. In this processes, some topics have taken a main role, such as
ideologies, religion, and sexual diversity, among others. In addition, those
electoral processes have become a propitious sphere for demonstrating the
discursive constructions and resources that are used to persuade and to exert
the power in our societies. For these reasons, it has been decided to title the
II Central American Symposium on
Discourse Studies “Societies, politics and discourses”, and the following
thematic focuses were established:
- · Discursive construction of (new) leaders and political leaderships
- · Religious discourse and politics
- · Political discourse, carnival and spectacle
- · Territorial discourse
- · Social movements and alternative discourses
- · Argumentation and rhetoric in discourse
- · Characterization of resources, strategies or text genres
- · Applied discourse studies
- · Theoretical and methodological contributions to discourse studies
Objectives of the encounter
• To exchange experiences on Discourse Studies in
Central America and the Caribbean, by means of an academic meeting of
specialists on the field.
- To discuss the theoretical and methodological
contributions, as well as the results and research experiences on
Discourse Studies in Central America.
- To spread the scientific activity on Discourse
Studies in Central America and the Caribbean.
