ABSTRACT This paper combines insights from Deictic Space Theory and Conceptual Metaphor Theory to analyze the Tunisian President’s inaugural speech following his victory in the October 2019 elections. Detailed critical discourse analysis of the deictic exponents and the metaphorical image schemas employed in the text showed a Manichean opposition between the pure/good people versus the corrupt/evil ‘elites’, nostalgia to a pristine revolutionary moment, a pan-Arab discourse which anchors the Israeli-Palestinian conflict close to the local geography and a radical form of (...) populism, which grounds sovereignty within a transcendent theocratic cosmology. It is suggested that the upsurge of populism in Tunisian politics could be explained by the disenchantment with the deficient and rather ‘fake’ Islamo-nationalist consensus politics, the inappropriate neoliberal policies imposed by fund-raising bodies like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank as well as the fragmentation, if not total erosion, of viable public spaces for rational deliberation and decision-making processes as a result of the ‘digital era.’. (shrink)

This study investigates the discursive construction of the idea of tunisianité in a sample of 41 articles published in the national press in the wake of the Arab Spring. Using analytical categories developed within the discourse-historical approach, the analysis indicates three general, strongly secularist, representations of tunisianité. One of these, which can be called essentialist, claims an unmistakable ethnolinguistic connection to a glorified pre-Arabo-Islamic classicism which goes back to the foundation of Carthage. A second and a more dominant one construes (...) tunisianité in assimilationist terms, that is, Tunisia as a ‘melting pot’ lumping different Eastern and Western ethnolinguistic and cultural traditions. A third emerging, but a marginalized trend in the data, grounds tunisianité within the Enlightenment/revolutionary ideals of Democracy, Dignity and Freedom and warns against its possible disintegration because of its vulnerability to the upheavals of terrorism, corporatism, populism and socioeconomic insecurity. While the third representation is laudable from the perspective of the Revolutionary demands, the dominant nationalist identity discourse remains backward-looking, reactionary and strongly preoccupied with a perceived political invasion by the Islamist-Arabist Other. It is argued that the dominant model of identity politics and the political economy associated with it are incompatible with Tunisians’ aspirations for socioeconomic development and social justice. (shrink)

ABSTRACTIn postcolonial countries the bilingual/bicultural elite played an undeniable role in the propagation of a modernist ideology about the nation and national identity. In Tunisia and in the wake of the so-called Arab Spring, this ideology has been seriously challenged by opposing discourses. Focusing on newspaper articles published by Tunisian Francophones, this article investigates the discursive strategies employed by this group to defend this ideology and its emergent national identity. Analysis is based on an inventory of the referential/predicational strategies developed (...) within the Discourse Historical Approach to represent Self-Other identities [Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R.. Discourse and Discrimination. London: Routledge]. Findings indicated a staunch defense of a de-ethninicized, de-racialized, multilingual and secular Tunisia. Attributes of Arabism/islamism are consistently problematized; they are primitivized, religionized, de-intellectualized and negatively ideologized. By contrast, elements of Frenchness are championed on the basis of the modernist ideology they are thought to uphold. Frenchness is predicated on a continuum of Enlightenment, historicity, aesthetics,, religious reformism and economic progress. This triumphalist rhetoric is, however, undermined by a discourse of language endangerment whereby the Francophiles deplore the possible loss of French in Tunisia. It is argued that while Frenchness will survive as part of Tunisian national identity and discourse tradition due to its strong anchoring in many domains, it seems that this Frenchified modernist identity politics has been transformed into a version which disavows its politicized, contingent and debatable nature. (shrink)

This article compares the rhetorical strategies employed by American and French scientists in the research article introductions published by both research teams during the so-called ‘AIDS War’. The controversy concerned priority rights for the discovery of the AIDS virus. Using Swales’s CARS model as a comparative template, the results indicated that while the Americans proceeded with a deductive, bold and highly elaborated pattern of rhetorical presentation, the French opted for an inductive, more nuanced and unelaborated rhetoric which prioritized the communication (...) of scientific content at the expense of the writers’ attitude and personal perspective. The observed variations can be accounted for on the basis of perceptions of what constitutes appropriate academic style during the debate, audience design, power relationships and the sociopolitics of knowledge production in American and French scientific cultures. The article concludes by exploring the implications of these results for the use of English in the resolution of global research problems across the intercultural continuum. (shrink)

Mu‘tezilî kelâmcıların ortaya attıkları ahlâk nazariyesi Ortaçağ İslâm dünyasında önemli bir yer işgal eder. Bundan dolayı, bu makale bilgi-değer münasebeti sorununa ayrılmıştır. Eş‘arî kelâmcıların aksine, Mu‘tezilîler, bilgi-değer münasebetinden yola çıkmak suretiyle, din gönderilsin ya da gönderilmesin, iyi, kötü ve zorunlu gibi bazı objektif değer terimlerinin akıl kanalıyla bilinebilirliği tezini öne sürmüşlerdir. Mu‘tezilîler, ahlâkî değerler alanında nesnelciliği savunurlar, ancak onların savunduğu ve zorunluluğunu bütünüyle Tanrı’dan alan bu türden bir nesnelcilik anlayışını, deyim yerindeyse, “ilâhî nesnelcilik” diye nitelendirmek mümkündür. Onlarca, değerler daha başlangıçta (...) hem nesneler âlemine hem de insan anlığına sadece Tanrı tarafından yerleştirilmiştir. Mu‘tezilîlere göre, hem akıl hem de nakil iyi ve kötü gibi değer kavramlarını bilme hususunda iki asıl kaynaktır. İşte bu nedenledir ki, Mu‘tezilîlerin savunduğu akıl “kısmî akılcılık”olarak kabul edilebilir. Sonuç itibariyle, Mu‘tezilîlerin ahlâk sisteminde, insanoğlu daha başlangıçta onu yaratırken Tanrı’nın kendisine bahşetmiş olduğu yetkin aklını kullanmak suretiyle erdemli ve ahlâki bir yaşam tarzı sürdürebilir. (shrink)

Corruption is a widespread global problem that has far reachingnegative consequences on all spheres of life. Muslim-majority countriesare most often ranked as ‘highly corrupt’ by the Transparency InternationalCorruption Perceptions Indexes. Yet the majority of studies about corruptionare predominantly undertaken from a Western perspective. A review of theavailable literature would suggest that it is hard to find a piece of work thatconsiders the problem of corruption from all its theoretical aspects from anIslamic perspective or is exclusively dedicated to examining it from (...) to theperspective of the Qur’ān, Sunnah, or indeed both together. To fill this gap, thispaper is a thematic examination of the problem of corruption according to themain sources of Islam; i.e. the Qur’ān and Sunnah, through which an attemptis made to investigate the main theoretical facets in relation to understandingand tackling corruption. (shrink)

Confucius is considered to be a great philosopher and educator in Chinese society and one of the greatest scholars ever in world history. He was the founder of Confucianism, which constitutes a major part of traditional Chinese culture and made tremendous contribution to the unfolding of Chinese civilization over the centuries. In this study, the authors have presented a comprehensive outline of Confucianism and have attempted to gauge the attitude of contemporary Chinese people towards Confucian concepts, values and attributes as (...) well as their influences on the social lives of present-day Chinese population. The Likert Scale was applied in the study to assess the attitude of the Chinese educated class belonging to the educational institutions like the universities in Beijing towards Confucianism. It was found from the survey that the Confucian concepts still wield substantial influence on the social outlook of the modern-day Chinese people and these attributes are still relevant in the day to day lives of the Chinese society. Philosophy and Progress, Vol#61-62; No#1-2; Jan-Dec 2017 P 109-132. (shrink)

Im Fokus der Untersuchungen von Fethi Meskini steht die Frage nach Identität und ihren Bedeutungen und Ausdrucksformen vor, während und nach der Revolution. Er behandelt zunächst die Frage, in welchem Sinne und für wen die jüngsten Revolutionen in Tunesien und Ägypten eine »Überraschung« darstellen. Vor diesem Hintergrund setzt er sich kritisch mit den Strukturen des autoritären Staates auseinander und behandelt dabei das Problem der »Eliten«. Er zeigt darüber hinaus, wie die Revolution aus einer produktiven Unzufriedenheit und entgegen einem eingeübten (...) öffentlichen Schweigen unter der Diktatur entstanden ist und inwiefern sie als ein mikrohistorischer Prozess, der zu einer unabwendbaren positiven Verärgerung wird, zu erfassen sei. Er weist ebenfalls auf die wichtigen Kennzeichen und innovativen Ausdrucksformen des Protests der neuen Revolutionen hin. Dabei betont er, dass die Revolutionen vor allem in Tunesien und Ägypten jenseits der unterschiedlichen politischen und religiösen Identitätsentwürfe »lebenswichtig« seien. Sie lösen sich somit von einer autoritären Politik der Identität, wobei die Frage nach der Postrevolution bzw. nach der Demokratie mit bestimmten Schwierigkeiten behaftet bleibt. (shrink)

This essay juxtaposes the death of the moral god in Christian Europe (Nietzsche) with the demise of al-millah or the theologico-political community in Islam. This comparative engagement allows for a local (Arab Muslim) and universal rethinking of, inter alia, faith, freedom, and transcendence beyond terrorism and methodological atheism.

: Contemporary Muslim societies suffer from numerous endemicproblems such as corruption, poverty, and gender inequality. In addressingthese problems, scholars tend to consider sociological models, and overlookthe potential of Islamic ethical perspectives. The Islamic sources, particularlythe Qur’an provide pertinent insights on ethics that should be foremost in theminds of those seeking to alleviate social problems in Muslim communities.Essential writings on ethics, particularly Tahdhib al-Akhlāq by Ibn Miskawayh,The Moral World of the Qur’an by Draz, and The Ethico-Religious Conceptsin the Qur’an by Izutsu (...) are major works in this field. This paper elucidates themeaning of Islamic ethics, with an overview from the Qur’an and the viewsof prominent scholars. It then analyses the current major problems in Muslimmajoritycountries and their ethical roots to emphasize the significance of Islamicethics as a source of remedy. This is an interdisciplinary qualitative study,which uses the thematic commentary on Qur’an and ḥemedy methodologies,integrating the methods of sociology and ethics. (shrink)

O presente trabalho se propõe a analisar as narrativas da imprensa brasileira sobre a derrota de 7 a 1 do Brasil para a Alemanha em partida válida pela semifinal da Copa do Mundo de 2014, buscando identificar como a memória é acionada nesta oportunidade. Para isto se parte de uma hipótese, a de que algumas narrativas deste revés provavelmente se tornarão lembranças que futuramente serão acionadas por jornalistas esportivos quando se falar deste jogo.

Le terme « cosmologie » a pour nous certaines résonances. Depuis la reformulation de la nomenclature des disciplines philosophiques au dix-huitième siècle par Christian Wolff on identifie assez volontiers la cosmologie à ce que les Médiévaux appelaient philosophia naturalis. Cela ne signifie pas que Wolff ait défini l'objet de la cosmologie à la fa¸on de Thomas d'Aquin comme étant l'être mobile. Pour lui, le monde comme ensemble des êtres finis en liaison réciproque, tel qu'on pourrait le déduire de l'ordre intemporel (...) des substances, est l'objet de la cosmologie. Et pour toute fin pratique ces êtres finis sont des corps. Jusqu'à nos jours les traités de philosophie scolastique ont conservé en gros la nomenclature wolffienne des disciplines tout en leur donnant un contenu plus authentiquement scolastique. Quoi qu'il en soit, je donne ici un autre sens au terme de cosmologie. Plutôt qu'à la philosophia naturalis des Médiévaux ou à la cosmologie wolffienne je songe à la cosmologie de Whitehead, dont l'ouvrage principal Process and Reality porte en sous-titre An Essay in Cosmology. (shrink)

Lorsqu'on examine la vie de Alfred North Whitehead, on est frappé par le nombre d'activités qui l'ont occupé successivement à diverses époques. D'abord on remarque deux grandes périodes: la première, entièrement consacrée aux mathématiques, qui s'étend de 1880 à 1924 et qui culmine dans la publication de Principia Mathematica,œuvre écrite conjointement avec Bertrand Russell; la deuxième consacrée à la philosophic et qui couvre la période allant de 1916 à 1947, année de sa mort. Comme on le voit done, la première (...) période chevauche la deuxième puisque, de 1916 à 1924, Whitehead fait oeuvre, à la fois, de mathématicien et de philosophe. (shrink)

AimThe aim of this study was to determine the presence of depressive symptoms and understand the potential factors associated with these symptoms among physicians in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic.MethodsA cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted in between April 21 and May 10, 2020, among physicians living in Bangladesh. Participants completed a series of demographic questions, COVID-19-related questions, and the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Descriptive statistics, test statistics were performed to explore the association between physicians’ experience of depression symptoms (...) and other study variables. Stepwise binary logistic regression was followed while conducting the multivariable analysis.ResultA total of 390 physicians completed the survey. Of them, 283 were found to be experiencing depressive symptoms. Predictors which were significantly associated with depressive symptoms were gender, the presence of sleep disturbance, being highly exposed to media coverage about the pandemic, and fear around COVID-19 infection, being assaulted/humiliated by regulatory forces and by the general public, while traveling to and from the hospital and treating patients during the countrywide lockdown.ConclusionThe findings of this study demonstrate that there is a high prevalence of depressive symptom among physicians especially among female physicians in Bangladesh during the COVID-19 pandemic. Immediate, adequate and effective interventions addressing gender specific needs are required amid this ongoing crisis and beyond. (shrink)

Taking the idea of waste as an in-use phenomenon, we developed amatrix to explain four categories of waste which result from users’ failure touse a resource properly. These categories were illustrated by examples built onpractical food waste measurements, surveys, theses formatting requirementsand newspaper reports. We have categorized different facets of waste from abusiness perspective; thus, contributed to have improved waste managementpractices. We also showed that parsimony was also a wasteful behaviour.Parsimony was shown to be a waste by its effects on (...) others’ need of fulfilmentand other-worldly consequences for the miser. (shrink)

La civilisation contemporaine est si liée au développement de science et de la méthode scientifique que sans une juste compréhension de la nature de ces dernières elle demeure incompréhensible. Mais il est moins facile de préciser la nature de cette liaison, de déterminer la signification de la science pour notre civilisation actuelle. Nous sommes en effet intéressés à savoir quel est le degré et la nature de l'influence de la science, quelles réactions elle provoque de la part de l'homme mais (...) aussi pourquoi elle exerce cette influence et provoque ces réactions. Ces questions sont importantes car il en va de l'évolution actuelle de l'humanité. Bien entendu des réponses à ces questions demanderaient un exposé beaucoup plus élaboré que celui qui va suivre. Conscient des difficultés, je tâcherai néanmoins d'aborder quelques aspects du problème. (shrink)