Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (born 8 October 1944) is a Belgian linguist and semiotician, professor at the State University of Liège, born in Verviers (

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

) in 1944. Member of the interdisciplinary Groupe µ. President of the International Association for visual Semiotics.

Biography

Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, born in 1944 in

Verviers Verviers (; wa, Vervî) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Ensival, Heusy, Lambermont, Petit-Rechain, Stembert, and Verviers. It is also ...

(

), received his Masters (1967) and his Doctorate (1971) in Romance Philology at the State University of Liège. He teaches language studies at the

University of Liège The University of Liège (french: Université de Liège), or ULiège, is a major public university of the French Community of Belgium based in Liège, Wallonia, Belgium. Its official language is French. As of 2020, ULiège is ranked in the 301 ...

, focusing on rhetoric and

semiotics Semiotics (also called semiotic studies) is the systematic study of sign processes ( semiosis) and meaning making. Semiosis is any activity, conduct, or process that involves signs, where a sign is defined as anything that communicates something ...

. He also teaches French-language literature (particularly Belgian and Québécois). His scientific activities focus on two areas: linguistics/semiotics and French-speaking cultures. In the first area, he made his mark in the late 1960s by revitalizing the field of rhetoric as a member of the interdisciplinary team known as the µ Group. More recently, he has helped to steer semiotics in a social, cognitivist direction. His writings on semiotics and rhetoric have been translated into 15 or more languages. In the second field, he has modernized the study of the arts in Belgium by casting them in a social and institutional light, an approach that can be readily transferred to the other French-speaking cultures he has studied (such as

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

's) and by establishing inter-university research programs. He founded and chairs Belgium's Centre d’Études des Lettres Francophones. He is president of the International Association for visual semiotics. He is a member of the "Ordre des francophones d'Amérique" (

) and

Commandeur des Arts et Lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

). Member of the "

Académie royale de Belgique The Royal Academies for Science and the Arts of Belgium (RASAB) is a non-governmental association which promotes and organises science and the arts in Belgium by coordinating the national and international activities of its constituent academies su ...

" (Royal Academy of

Bibliography

*1970 ''Rhétorique générale'', Paris, Larousse (paperback : Paris, Le Seuil,1982); with the Groupe µ. ('' A General Rhetoric'', Baltimore & London, The Johns Hopkins University Press, transl. by Paul B. Burrell & Edgar M. Slotkin, 1981). *1973 ''Style et Archaïsme dans La Légende d'Ulenspiegel de Charles De Coster'', Brussels, Palais des Académies. *1977 ''Rhétorique de la poésie : lecture linéaire, lecture tabulaire'', Brussels, Complexe (paperback : Paris, Le Seuil, 1990); with the Groupe µ. *1978 ''Collages'', Paris, U.G.E.; with the Groupe µ. *1979''A Semiotic Landscape. Panorama sémiotique'', The Hague, Mouton; with

Seymour Chatman Seymour Chatman (August 30, 1928 – November 4, 2015) was an American film and literary critic and professor emeritus of rhetoric at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of the most significant figures of American narratology Nar ...

Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of th ...

. *1979 ''Rhétoriques, Sémiotiques'', Paris, U.G.E; with the Groupe µ. *1980 ''La littérature française de Belgique'', Paris, Nathan, Brussels, Labor. *1981 ''Langages et collectivités : le cas du Québec'', Montréal, Leméac; with D. Latin et G. Connolly. *1985 ''Trajectoires : littérature et institutions au Québec et en Belgique francophone'', Presses universitaires de Montréal, Brussels, Labor; with Lise Gauvin. *1985 '' Charles De Coster'', Brussels, Labor. *1988 French adaptation of ''Le Signe. Introduction à un concept et à son histoire'', by

, Brussels, Labor (paperback : Le livre de poche, 1992). *1988 ''

Raymond Queneau Raymond Queneau (; 21 February 1903 – 25 October 1976) was a French novelist, poet, critic, editor and co-founder and president of Oulipo ('' Ouvroir de littérature potentielle''), notable for his wit and cynical humour. Biography Queneau w ...

, André Blavier : lettres croisées (1949-1976)'', Brussels, Labor, . *1990 ''Le sens rhétorique. Essais de sémantique littéraire'', Toronto, G.R.E.F., Brussels, Les Éperonnniers. *1991 ''Écrivain cherche lecteur. L’écrivain francophone et ses publics'', Paris, Créaphis, Montréal, V.L.B.; with Lise Gauvin. *1992 ''Traité du signe visuel. Pour une rhétorique de l'image'', Paris, Le Seuil; avec le Groupe µ. *1994 ''Espace Nord. L’Anthologie'', Brussels, Labor. *1994 ''Des Langues romanes'', Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot. *1996 ''Sept leçons de sémiotique et de rhétorique'', Toronto, G.R.E.F. *1997 ''Une langue, une communauté. Le français en Belgique'', Louvain-la-Neuve, Duculot; with Daniel Blampain, André Goosse, Marc Wilmet. *1997 ''Salut Galarneau !'', de

Jacques Godbout Jacques Godbout, OC, CQ (born November 27, 1933) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, children's writer, journalist, filmmaker and poet. By his own admission a bit of a dabbler (''touche-à-tout''), Godbout has become one of the most important wri ...

, Montréal, Boréal. *1997 ''Précis de sémiotique générale'', Duculot (paperback : Paris, Le Seuil, 2000). *2000 ''Tu parles !? Le français dans tous ses états'', Paris, Flammarion (rééd. 2002, coll. Champs); with Bernard Cerquiglini, Jean-Claude Corbeil,

Benoît Peeters Benoît Peeters (; born 1956) is a French comics writer, novelist, and comics studies scholar. Biography After a degree in Philosophy at Université de Paris I, Peeters prepared his Master's at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales ...

. *2001 ''La langue et le citoyen. Pour une autre politique de la langue française'', Paris, Presses universitaires de France. *2003 ''Figuras, conocimiento, cultura. Ensayos retóricos'', Mexico City, Universidad Nacional Autónoma; with the Groupe µ. *2003 ''Petites mythologies belges'', Brussels, Labor. *2005 ''La littérature belge. Précis d'histoire sociale'', Brussels, Labor; with Benoît Denis. *2008 (editor)
Figures de la figure: Sémiotique et rhétorique générale
' *2008 (editor) ''L’avenir du français'' (with Jacques Maurais, Pierre Dumont, Bruno Maurer, Patrick Chardenet), Paris, Agence universitaire de la Francophonie, Édition des archives contemporaines. *2010 ''Le Tournant des années 1970. Liège en effervescence'' (with Nancy Delhalle &

Jacques Dubois Jacques Dubois ( Latinised as Jacobus Sylvius; 1478 – 14 January 1555) was a French anatomist. Dubois was the first to describe venous valves, although their function was later discovered by William Harvey. He was the brother of Franciscus Sy ...

), Brussels, Les Impressions nouvelles. *2010 ''Périphériques Nord. Fragments d'une histoire sociale de la littérature francophone en Belgique'', Presses de l' Université de Liège. *2010 ''Voir faire. Faire voir'', Brussels, Les Impressions nouvelles. * 2015 ''La Langue dans la cité. Vivre et penser l'équité culturelle'', Brussels, Les Impressions nouvelles, 2015. * 2016 ''Petites mythologies liégeoises'' (avec Laurent Demoulin), Liège, Tétras Lyre, 2016. * 2017 Definitive edition of Charles De Coster, ''La Légende et les aventures héroïques, joyeuses et glorieuses d’Ulenspiegel et de Lamme Goedzak au pays de Flandre et ailleurs'', established by Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, Brussels, Communauté française de Belgique, Collection Espace Nord, 2017. * 2018 ''Politiques linguistiques en Belgique francophone et germanophone'', spécial issue of ''Synergies''. * 2018 ''Entre langue et espace. Qu’est-ce que l’écriture ?'', Brussels, Académie royale de Belgique (coll. « L’Académie en poche », 111), . * 2018 ''(Essais en) Sémiotique de l’écriture. (Studies in the) Semiotics of Writing'', special issue ''Signata. Annales des sémiotiques. Annal of Semiotics'', n° 9, 2018 (avec Stéphane Polis). * 2020 ''Votre langue est à vous. Quarante ans de politique linguistique en Belgique francophone'', Louvain-la-Neuve, EME Éditions, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, Service de la langue française (coll. Français & Société, 31).

External links

*https://web.archive.org/web/20080226163357/http://www.signosemio.com/klinkenberg/klinkenberg.asp
Best of Verviers, L'interview de Jean-Marie Klinkenberg
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klinkenberg, Jean-Marie 1944 births Semioticians Linguists from Belgium Walloon people Walloon movement activists Living people People from Verviers