Groupe de Recherche/ Research Group

Le Cercle Benveniste est un groupe de recherche de la Faculté des arts de l’Université de Calgary, ouvert à tous – collègues comme étudiants avancés – qui s’intéressent à la langue, sous tous ses aspects. De même qu’Émile Benveniste s’est efforcé de jeter des ponts entre le monde des sciences du langage et des arts du langage, ainsi que divers autres domaines d’études impliquant l’usage du langage, nos rencontres se déroulent dans un esprit d’ouverture et de dialogue disciplinaire.

The Benveniste Circle is a research group of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Calgary, that is open to all – colleagues as well as advanced students – who are interested in language, in its various aspects. Just as Émile Benveniste laboured to build bridges between the world of language sciences and language arts, as well as various other fields of study involving the use of language, so will our sessions take place in a spirit of disciplinary openness and dialogue.

Why Benveniste?

Émile Benveniste (b. Aleppo, Syria, May 27, 1902 – d. Paris, France, October 3, 1976) is one of the most influential (and yet, quite neglected) figures in Linguistics. To wit, he was appointed chair of comparative grammar at the highly prestigious Collège de France, from 1937 to 1969. Former student of Antoine Meillet (who himself was a student of Ferdinand de Saussure), Benveniste spoke Persian, and is well-known for having theorized the key notion of Enunciation, and therefore for drawing attention to subjectivity in language. The Cerclebears his name for three main reasons.

First of all, his work questions several aspects of general linguistics, and beyond: epistemology, morpho-syntaxic and semantic descriptions, study of lexicon and culture, pragmatics, semiotics. He is also known for his contributions to Indo-European studies. His influence in the field of linguistics is crucial, and it’s not unusual to hear people utilizing his ideas without naming him at all. Today, it would be difficult to study literature without his theory of Enunciation; not to mention the fact that his work also links linguistics to psychoanalysis and philosophy.

Secondly, although his bibliography is quite abundant, the work of Benveniste is all about quality, not quantity. Another great mind, Roland Barthes, in a tribute to Benveniste (who taught him at the École des Hautes Études), dated April 16, 1974, compares the precision, accuracy and moderation of his writing to that of a cabinetmaker. His writing is almost neutral, a subtle mix of passion and reserve, which shows the obvious pleasure and care he took in formulating every sentence. Benveniste writes silently, Barthes notes, as a musician. “Travaillant avec lui, avec ses textes (qui ne sont jamais de simples articles), nous reconnaissons toujours la générosité d’un homme qui semble écouter le lecteur et lui prêter de son intelligence, même dans les sujets les plus particuliers, les plus improbables. Nous lisons d’autres linguistes (il le faut bien), mais nous aimons Benveniste” (515). [Working with him, with his texts (which are never the same thing as simple articles), one always recognizes the generosity of a man who seems to listen to the reader and to share with him/her his intelligence, even when writing about the most particular, the most improbable topics. I read other linguists (because I must), but I love Benveniste.] 

Benveniste’s careful way of working is not a minor detail. It just so happens that the latest edition of the publication University Affairs features a contribution by Daniel McCabe about the “slow science” movement. According to the proponents of this nascent movement, McCabe writes, “the increasingly frenetic pace of academic life is threatening the quality of the science that researchers produce. As harried scientists struggle to churn out enough papers to impress funding agencies, and as they spend more and more of their time filling out forms and chasing after increasingly elusive grant money, they aren’t spending nearly enough time mulling over the big scientific questions that remain to be solved in their fields” (28).

Last (but not least), people who have met Benveniste describe him as someone rather shy and soft-spoken, even though it was known that he could read Sanskrit in its original form (not to mention Greek and Latin). His very life suggests that it’s possible to be a good researcher without arrogance or condescension; it’s possible to make excellent contributions without blowing one’s own horn. This aspect is of primary importance to both faculty members, and especially to graduate students, as they are learning to navigate the academic world and build their confidence. Benveniste is not an expert. He is a savant, humble enough to let his work speak for itself. While not everyone achieves such a high level of erudition as Benveniste, modesty is something we all can seek and attain.

Long story short, the Cercle carries the name of Benveniste because Benveniste himself would probably have not wanted such a tribute.