Date:
Location:
The Tunisia Office of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University invites you to:
LEARNING ARABIC DURING IRREGULAR MOBILITY BETWEEN WEST AFRICA AND WESTERN EUROPE
A lecture by:
May Rostom, Ph.D. candidate affiliated to the CNRS , Université Aix Marseille, IREMAM, Institut de Recherches et d'Études sur les Mondes Arabes et Musulmans and the European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder), Language Use and Migration.
May Rostom is a double doctoral candidate in sociolinguistics at the University of Aix-Marseille and the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder). She is also affiliated with the Institut de Recheche sur le Maghreb contemporain (IRMC) in Tunis. She holds a Master's degree in Literary Translation from Inalco (2017) and a Master's degree in Linguistics - Social Anthropology (2020). She has worked as a translator and interpreter and taught Arabic at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Sciences Po Paris and the University of Aix-Marseille. Her research focuses on language practices in the context of transnational mobility, narratives of language use and metadiscourses on Arabic.
In the course of transnational, irregular, "stepwise" mobilities between West Africa and Western Europe, many migrants develop practices of Arabic. Within the framework of the sociolinguistics of mobility, this presentation examines narratives of Arabic acquisition for the characteristics of linguistic forms that are shaped by multi-situated social interactions. We will discuss the emergence of these practices in relation to geopolitical contexts, power dynamics, and sociolinguistic settings. At the same time, we will consider the role of subjective factors in language elaboration, including backgrounds, projects, and strategies, social encounters as well as emotional experiences associated with language.
This event will be held in person. Admission Free.
