Stockholm university

Sophie Yvert Hamon

About me

Sophie Yvert-Hamon is a PhD student in French linguistics at the University of Stockholm. She specialises in sixteenth and seventeenth century French thought and works on the relationship between Catholics and Protestants during and after the French Wars of Religion. She has a particular interest in the religious controversies. Her current PhD research project - Réunir et distinguer. Philippe Duplessis-Mornay et la controverse de l’eucharistie – explores the controversies between the Protestant Philippe Duplessis-Mornay and his opponents, with Discourse Analysis as a theoretical and methodological framework. Other research interests bear on bibliographical studies.

 

2013 : Degree of Master of Arts in French, University of Stockholm, Sweden.

2010 : Master of Education, University of Dalarna, Sweden.

2002 : Two-Year University Degree in English, University of Tours, France.

1999 : Master of Arts in History, Centre d'Études Supérieures de la Renaissance, University of Tours, France.

 

 

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Stratégies de désignation dans le discours politique catholique et protestant pendant les guerres de religion

    2019. Sophie Yvert-Hamon. Bergen Language and Lingustics Studies 10 (1)

    Article

    The purpose of this paper is to analyze the strategies of designation in the political discourse of Huguenots on the one hand, and Ultra-Catholics on the other hand, during the period preceding and following the conversion of Henry IV (1593). Using Discourse Analysis as a theoretical and methodological framework, this study focuses on how the different actors (parties, the King) are presented in these discourses.

    The corpus is composed of two texts, both published in 1593. The first one is by the Duke of Mayenne, leader of the Catholic League, and aims to reunify all Catholics within the kingdom in order to annihilate Protestantism. It is written before the conversion of Henry IV to Catholicism and expresses the frustration of Ultra-Catholics at having a protestant king. The second text is by Philippe Duplessis-Mornay on behalf of the Huguenots’ political assemblies. It is a letter addressed to King Henry IV just after his conversion to Catholicism in 1593. This letter expresses the frustration of Huguenots as their protector converted to Catholicism. Analyzing the use of referential expressions according to the constructivist conception of the reference developed by Apothéloz and Reichler-Béguelin (1995), this study considers the referents as discourse-objects and the talking subject as acting on these objects. The study is qualitative and examines the different functions (argumentative, social, polyphonic) of the categorizations and recategorizations in order to underscore the discursive strategies of the authors. This paper argues that there are similarities in the way the different actors are presented in the two texts but that the perspective is essentially religious in the text by the Catholic League whereas the perspective is more political in the text by the Huguenots.

    Read more about Stratégies de désignation dans le discours politique catholique et protestant pendant les guerres de religion
  • The Place of Truth in Religious Controversies

    2019. Sophie Yvert-Hamon.

    Conference

    The purpose of this paper is to analyse the tension between two conceptions of truth in the discourse of the religious controversies after the French Wars of Religion: truth conceived of as a certainty and truth conceived of as a quest.

    The regulated coexistence of Catholics and Protestants in accordance with the Edict of Nantes (1598) fails to resolve the tensions between the two confessions, as attested by the numerous texts of religious controversy published under the Peace. In this war of words, in which each side tries to convince members of the other side to change their opinion and confession, the protagonists do not consider each other as trustworthy. Theologians are thus faced with the problem of achieving credibility and truth holds a central place in their discourse: it may be problematised, presented as a principle, advanced as an argument or aimed as an objective. The controversy shakes the conception of truth as incontestable, as well as the borders between orthodoxy and heterodoxy.

    In 1598, the Protestant Philippe Duplessis-Mornay publishes the Traité de l’eucharistie. The treatise addresses one of the most pervasive topics of contention between Catholics and Protestants and prompts many other publications from the other side. The corpus chosen for the study is composed of the preface of the 1604 edition of the treatise. Using Discourse Analysis as a theoretical and methodological framework, this study focuses on the different uses of the term truth, as well as related terms (true, really, truly…), metaphors, opposites (error, untruthfulness) in order to understand the axiological organisation of the author. Two conceptions of truth are distinguished: truth as a certainty and truth as a quest. In the first perspective, the controversy furthers a power struggle in which the adversary is subjected to the division truth-error/untruthfulness. In the second perspective, the controversy seems to unify the protagonists in a common search for truth and a possible conciliation.

    Read more about The Place of Truth in Religious Controversies
  • L'emploi des pronoms je, nous et vous dans le discours de controverse religieuse en France après les guerres de religion

    2015. Sophie Yvert-Hamon. Studii de Lingvistica (5), 129-154

    Article

    This study explores the ethos, the representation of the Other and argumentation in the discourse of religious controversy between Catholics and Protestants in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in France. During the period following the Wars of Religion, which is characterized by a regulated coexistence of the two religions in accordance with the Edict of Nantes (1598), a significant increase in the number of publications relating to religious controversy is observed, as the fight is displaced to a discursive level. The corpus for this study is composed of several publications by the Protestant Philippe Duplessis-Mornay. Using the framework of Discourse Analysis, our study makes a systematic survey of the personal pronouns in the texts written by the author in order to analyze his discursive strategies. The purpose of this study is to contribute to exploring a new corpus for discourse analysis as well as to further our understanding of religious controversies.

    Read more about L'emploi des pronoms je, nous et vous dans le discours de controverse religieuse en France après les guerres de religion

Show all publications by Sophie Yvert Hamon at Stockholm University