Political Onomastic in Algeria : Study of the Names of Political Parties and Independent Lists

Studies in onomastic cover several areas of research, for example: toponymy, which is mainly concerned with the study of place names; anthroponomy, which studies people's names; ethnonymy or the study of human groups, etc. Given that the centers of interest of these three fields were clear, and that many studies were carried out there, not only in developed countries (France, Canada, etc.), but also in North Africa and Algeria in particular, a fourth area however, it is interested in the study of other types of nouns, considering that these areas are recent and emerging, and studies on them are very limited, and among these areas we find political onomastic.

Since 2018, our interest in onomastic issues has grown, since we have contributed to a research project on "Onomastic management in Algeria during the French colonial periods and after independence: a critical study of legal texts", where we worked on a research axis entitled: “study of the legal texts which govern the toponymic field in Algeria since the restoration of national sovereignty”. We have benefited from working on this project, as much as our specialty (political science), and the nature of the project, which necessarily leads us to study various texts and legislations, and to use our knowledge in this direction. All this has pushed us to make more efforts to get to know this specialty better, and to try to make contributions to it, however simple they may be (interventions in scientific events, etc.). As we have looked into the research and publications carried out in this field of research, especially from the political and legal aspects, we have gradually discovered what is called political or institutional onomastic, which studies the political organizations (parties, associations, trade unions etc.).

After reading a lot of articles and scientific works on this subject, our interest for this one increased, and we started to contact our specialized professors, to know the possibility of working on the subject. Mrs. Yermeche, the former director of RASYD, encouraged us a lot to do research on this theme, in particular because it is close to our specialty (political science). Professor Farid Benremdane also encouraged us to study this subject and expressed his availability and support for setting up this research project. From there and despite the lack of time before the deadline for submitting projects at the level of the Scientific Council of the Center, we have decided to deploy all our efforts to form a research and work team on this subject, which we consider very interesting.

The scientific works that we consulted were all recent, and they were all in French (knowing that there are articles in English, which we will read shortly), and these are mainly articles published in scientific journals. The subjects of these articles that we have already read have studied in particular the names of political parties, and for the most part in Western countries. On the other hand, studies that address political parties in the Arab world, or in Algeria, are very limited, if not rare.

Among these articles which seemed very interesting to us: (Paul Bacot & Michelle Lecolle, “Names of political parties: an atypical onomastic”, 2019, Words. The languages of politics). It addressed what was meant by the concept of political onomastic: “proper names that have certain characteristics: they name groups…; and these names are chosen by the same people who will apply them collectively to these groups; they consist of words which belong to the current lexicon and which have a meaning”. So choosing the name of a political party is a semantic question (the name is supposed to reflect something), but it is also strategic on the political scene. (Paul Bacot & Michelle Lecolle, 2019, p.09). This definition presents the most important features of the concept of political onomastic, because the latter is mainly associated with the names of groups, institutions, organizations... of a political nature, whether political parties, associations, unions, and the question can extend to the names of terrorist organizations, the names of separatist groups, and so on. This definition mentions that the political name is given after the agreement of the majority of the members of the group, which in most cases is composed of the common language or used and understood by the community. However, abbreviations can be used for the name, especially if it is long enough, either by the Arabic designation (for example DAECH -داعش-, which abbreviates the name of the terrorist organization: the Islamic State in Iraq and Levant), or even in the foreign language. (For example, we say hizb the FLN in Algeria, to designate the party of the National Liberation Front).

Among the articles that we consider equally important are (Paul Bacot, “development and diversification of an onomastic policy”, 2010. Words. Language of politics, 2010). It dealt in detail with the development of political onomastic, and its various branches. In this context, “the proper name of a political nature, or which has been used politically, is in itself a speech”. (Paul Bacot, p.50). Thus, research in political onomastic, and more specifically in the onomastic of political parties in Algeria, constitutes an opportunity to research and study the meanings and connotations of these names, in order to contribute positively to national debates on the most important party references, and to try to understand the current dynamics or movements in the national political field.

Like other onomastic studies, political onomastic has close relationships and even overlaps with five basic research areas: political science, political analysis, discourse analysis, linguistics and sociology. Starting from there, we will try to study this subject, emphasizing its political dimensions. Study the names of political parties in Algeria during the period of independence, identifying the approved parties, knowing that there are certain parties that have failed to obtain approval, or have been deprived of approval, for various reasons.

The most important thing that makes our research project different from the studies we have read is that our subject is to study the names of political parties in Algeria, the latter is characterized by plurality and diversity at the same time, which gives our subject importance, due to the lack of studies having dealt with Algeria (within the limits of our knowledge), and also our scientific passion to seek answers to the various questions that we have already posed.

Starting from the richness of the partisan arena in Algeria, and the multiplicity of parties (especially since the constitution of political pluralism in 1989), we will study the names of a set of political parties, not only under the linguistic aspect represented in the meaning and connotations of the name, but also legal, political, ideological aspects. ...etc., in order to get closer to the understanding of the problem of political parties in Algeria, starting with the mode of choice of the name, and the relationship of this name to the ideological and intellectual affiliations of the founding militants of the party, or again the general orientations of the party, and the various strategies it follows to gain power and make society evolve in accordance with its convictions. This study will focus on the most important political parties in Algeria, and the relationship of their names to their practices on the ground, whether at party level, or at the level of official state authorities when they came to power. . For example, we can find the name of a political party bearing the word "democrat" or "democracy", but since its foundation, and for decades, the same secretary general remains at its head, and sometimes the change does not take place. than by violence at the level of party authorities, or by recourse to justice, and the paradox lies in the fact that the political party calls for the establishment of democracy at the national level.