Fourth International Conference on Humanities

HOLISM
March 09 & 10, 2017

Call for papers

Venue: Higher Institute of Applied Languages and Computer Science of Beja, Tunisia
Abstracts are to be sent to: ich.hol2017@yahoo.com
Holism, to cast some light on such a concept, originates from the Greek word holos which signifies
all, entire, whole. It was coined by the South African statesman, Jan Christian Smuts in 1926 in his
book Holism and Evolution. He defines the term as the tendency in nature to form wholes that are
greater than the sum of the parts through creative evolution.
Taking into consideration the essence of what holism denotes as stated by its coiner, and in a framework
of teaching, learning, and researching, the concept could be applied to many academic disciplines and any
number of other areas of knowledge, which can yield better results. By way of illustration, applying
holism to medicine or pathology consists in taking account of the social conditions in which an individual
has been living, their physical and psychological states, as well as their religious beliefs and practices
with the object of preventing or curing a particular disease.
A further instance is that where the didactics of languages is concerned, from holism derives the Holistic
Approach to teaching and learning a language. The approach refers to focusing on language in its
wholeness, rather than emphasizing the separate teaching of its components, such as listening, speaking,
reading, writing, grammar, etc.
By the same token, holism, in the area of cultural studies, attempts to understand a particular matter in
relation to the whole system or environment which such a matter is part of. Social psychologists,
accordingly, look at the behavior of individuals in a social context, in the sense that group behavior like
conformity cannot be fully understood by looking at the individual in isolation, but it is rather best
figured out by examining individual behaviors within the context of the whole social group. The holistic
approach, in this setting, is premised upon the principle that the behavior, structure, and functionality of
the elements in a system are determined by the behavior of the whole, e.g. the constraints and effects a
society as a whole has on its individual members. This can be seen within societies when individuals
create culture, institutions and norms. Only then can these feed back to constrain and enable the agents in
the social system to get a continuous dynamic between macro and micro levels.
In a literary context, holism manifests itself through a multi-disciplinary, polysemic, synergistic, and
systems approach to studying literature. Studied in accordance with such an approach, the discipline
could be claimed to be unrelated to any specific ideology and rigid rhetoric of sectarianism, provincialism

and nationalism. It rather implies creating a confluence where the local and the global can co-exist along
the continuum, thus producing some kind of world, not local, literature.
The conference aims at being a window of opportunity for scholars, researchers, and learners to exchange
a miscellany of ideas on holism in various fields of knowledge.

Topics of papers might include, but are not limited to:

o Language and Linguistics

. Multivalence of text
. Holism in semiotics
. Holism in language teaching & learning
. Holism in discourse analysis
. Holism in philosophy of language
o Cultural Studies

. Globalisation
. Historiography
. The individual and the collective
. Cultural bonds
. Freedom and democracy
. Revolution and evolution
. Religion
. Holistic societal laws
. Holism vs. multiculturalism
. Holism and democracy
. Holism in political theory
o Literary Studies
. Holism in literary genres
. Holism in literary trends/movements
. Holism in literary theory

. Narratology
. Intertextuality
. Historiographic metafiction
. The personal and the political
. Holism and comparative literature
. Holism on healing the split between literature and linguistics
Scientific Committee:
Pr. Martine Schuwer (University of Rennes 2, France)
Pr. Mohamed Mansouri (University of Manouba)
Pr. Akila Sallami Baklouti (University of Sfax)
Pr. Mohamed Daoued (University of Carthage)
Dr. Mohamed Salah Harzallah (University of Sousse)
Dr. Faiza Derbel (University of Manouba)
Dr. Nourchene Sadkaoui (University of Tunis)

Organizing Committee:
Dr.Faouzi Mhamdi
Dr. Youssef Mezrigui
Dr. Imen Mzoughi
Dr. Bootheina Majoul
Dr. Imen Ktari
Dr. LamiaMrad

Dr. Ines Shabou

Dr. Bedis Ben Ezzedine
Mrs. Rim Ktari
Mrs. Sana Ben Ali
Mrs. Ferdaws Hamdi
Mrs. Henda Bahlous

Mr. Mounir Argoubi

Mrs. Habiba Maddouri
Ms. Selma Saidi
Some other teachers and a
number of students and
administrators

The reviewers will welcome abstracts of 300 words (maximum) for twenty-minute presentations in
English, French, and Arabic, addressing aspects of the above-cited areas or other concerns pertinent to the
topic.

Layout of the abstract

Title: Bold Times New Roman, 18 point
Author: First name, last name, Email, and affiliation in bold Times New Roman, 12 point
Core text: Italic Times New Roman when necessary, 12 point, single space

Deadlines and dates

Submission of abstracts: January 10, 2017
Notification of acceptance of abstracts: January 31, 2017
Organization of conference: March 9 & 10, 2017
Payment of the conference fees: March 9, 2017

Conference fees
Registration fee: TND 80
Registration & accommodation fee: TND 120

N.B: Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at
ich.hol2017@yahoo.com