São Paulo – A doctoral candidate in Linguistics at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUC-RS), Stéphane Dias will present her work “Resolution of Occupation: Expressive Dialogue as a Form of Mediation,” next Friday (11th) at the 6th edition of the event Dialogue Under Occupation, in Beirut, Lebanon. The event, to be held at the Lebanese American University, features lectures about life in occupied areas.
“I am bringing a linguistic perspective to this debate. Dialogue is a construction and involves a series of elements, such as intentions, hypotheses, statements and implications. Whenever policymakers, such as politicians and people involved in international relations, gain a better understanding of the dialogical process, they can make better-founded decisions,” says Dias, the only Brazilian in the congress.
Dias explains that she is beginning to develop her thesis, focusing on political dialogue, in particular under contexts of occupation. In her work, she tackles the Israeli-Palestinian issue to illustrate the importance of understanding in dialogue between the parties involved in political conflict. She also approaches the divergence in Western and Eastern views.
“People look at the East with the eyes of the West. They are unable to look at the dialogue through the assumptions the other party is making. Thus, each party enters the dialogue while attempting to impose their own views,” she says. “The West needs to look at the East with understanding and respect; it needs to understand the position of the East.”
She explains that she chose the Israeli-Palestinian issue to illustrate her work due to its importance and complexity. “I am interested in complex political issues, and this particular issue is important and deserves international attention,” she says.
Her work also covers the use of artistic dialogue to unite people from different cultures or ideological backgrounds. To her, the main rationale for the use of artistic dialogue, such as music, for instance, in order to unite people, is its emotional appeal. “Artistic dialogue can mediate conflicts. Art is universal, it works with reason and emotion. Whenever we see an artist we like, it overrides religious and political boundaries,” she says.
Dialogue Under Occupation started last Tuesday (8th). Dias will speak next Friday (11th) from 12:30 pm to 01:30 pm. For further information go to http://dialogueunderoccupation.org/.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
