• PhD research proposal - AFR-PhD grant (FNR)

    PhD research proposal – AFR-PhD grant (FNR)

    Co-supervisors: Christophe Sohn (LISER) and Birte Wassenberg (University of Strasbourg)

     

    Title: Multimodal discourse analysis of cross-border cooperation visual images throughout the history of the Greater Region in a comparative perspective

     

    Abstract:

    This PhD research proposal focuses on the analysis of visual discourses related to the political construction of cross-border regions in Europe (i.e., Euroregions) from their emergence in the 1960s-70s to the present day. More specifically, the objective of the research is to decode the meaning of the visual materials mobilized in the narratives on cross-border cooperation and the semantic changes that have taken place throughout their history. Until now, most of the analysis of discourses on the historical evolution of cross-border cooperation has focused on written texts, neglecting images, symbols and more broadly the iconography which nevertheless also fully participate in the discursive construction of these spatial entities in the making. In a context marked by the resurgence of national borders in the political agendas of European states and the succession of rebordering shocks, the way in which cross-border regions present themselves, the meaning their stakeholders give to their project and more broadly to the national border represents a timely scientific question and a key issue for the future of border regions and their communities.

    The empirical research will focus on an emblematic cross-border region of the European construction, the Greater Region (Luxembourg, Lorraine, Saar, Rhineland-Palatinate and Wallonia). A comparison with two other border regions is envisaged (the choice will be discussed with the candidate) in order to determine if the Greater Region can be identified as a model for cross-border reconciliation/cooperation. The analysis of visual materials will concern the documents produced by the cross-border cooperation initiatives (reports, policy briefs, websites, etc.) and the articles published in the regional press which constitute essential handovers towards the general public. The comparison between the case studies and the different registers of communication will offer the possibility of developing new research questions and implement an innovative research design. A conceptual and methodological framework based on multimodal social semiotics will be used in order to analyze the targeted visual discourses and to decode the elements that compose them. The empirical materials (photos, maps, drawings, graphs, sketches, etc.) will be retrieved from public archives and existing databases.

    The PhD research will be co-supervised by Birte Wassenberg, professor of contemporary history and expert of the European construction at the Institute of Political Studies of Strasbourg and Christophe Sohn from the Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER). LISER. A joint supervision is envisaged between the universities of Luxembourg and Strasbourg.

    Please send your application and questions to birte.wassenberg@unistra.fr and to christophe.sohn@liser.lu by 12 February 2023.