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Thesis title: A Decolonial Approach to Language Policy in Lebanon

My research focuses on language policy in Lebanon, specifically the historical and contemporary discourses that afford Lebanon such a prominent status in Francophonie. Through the works of key theorists such as Walter Mignolo and Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni, I approach language policy in Lebanon with a decolonial stance that reflects some of the contemporary work in Southern approaches to sociolinguistics. This includes centring the role of coloniality in my analysis of primary sources, as well as engaging with Arabic sources, both historical and contemporary. 

The thesis follows language policy through three so-called ‘hot-points’ in Franco-Lebanese relations: the 1860-1 Civil War in Mount Lebanon, the 1919 declaration of the French Mandate for Syria and Lebanon, and the 2010 Pacte Linguistique. The decolonial approach traces the colonial roots of contemporary French intervention in language policy in Lebanon, with a focus on the ideological weight of language and discourse, and how this impacts and can be impacted by ‘modernity/coloniality’.  

My research is funded by the AHRC via the White Rose College of the Arts and Humanities (WRoCAH).