Calls for papers – Conferences taking place in November 2016

The Body and Translation, the Body in Translation: translation and conference interpreting
Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès, France, 3-4 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

Organised by IRPALL (Programme: Penser la traduction) and EMMA (Paul Valéry University, Montpellier)

Translation, especially in its written form, takes place backstage. Translators are rarely in the spotlight, and easily become invisible if they have done their work well. Their voice marries that of another, of the author they are translating, whom they must not betray. In the author-translator duet, the translator’s voice takes flesh in the text and, sometimes, paratexts; its traces are difficult but not impossible to discern. In a sense, the reader ‘sees’ the voice, but the body of the translator, and sometimes that of the interpreter, is hidden from view. While the debate surrounding the latter’s invisibility and neutrality may seem today a thing of the past, interpreters still struggle to be accepted as full participants in a three-way communication process in which they assume a coordinating role, since they attend not only to the linguistic dimension but also have to mediate between the parties.
What are, then, the traces left by the translator in written texts, and how does the interpreter’s body express itself, for example through gestures? Contrary to what one may think, the translator’s or interpreter’s attempt to make themselves invisible is not a precondition for good translation. The phenomenological approach, centred on the experience of one’s body as a means of projecting oneself, of existing in the world, appears to be particularly relevant, as it invites us to reflect on the continuum between reality, language, and the speaker. Indeed, it is impossible, at this stage, to ignore the potential of discourse semiotics (Jean-Claude Coquet) and of the phenomenology of language to throw light on the formals marks of the subjective process, as well as those of the experiental process.
Every voice originates from a body. Translations are written with the hand that holds the pen, or the hands typing on a computer’s keyboard. We read with our eyes, and sometimes with our ear. The tastes, preferences, affects, and emotions of the translator, as well as their desire (or, in Antoine Berman’s words, the “drive”) to translate, to enter into a special relationship with the text, words, ideas of another person and, in a sense, with this very person (sometimes across time and space), is inevitably mediated by the body.
The language and metalanguage of translation studies abound in words and expressions which imply the existence of a body: point of view, perspective, positioning, proximity, distance, to mention only a few. Paul Ricœur used the word “mourning” in relation to translation. Friedrich Schleiermacher’s famous metaphor of movement, i.e. bringing the reader to the author or the reverse, is another example. And doesn’t translation function, in certain cases, as a blood transfusion? Walter Benjamin insisted on the Fortleben (survival or, more accurately, continued life) that translation gives the original; this involves, inevitably, transformation. According to Benjamin, change and renewal are characteristics of the living, and what lives has a body.
The aim of the conference is to reflect on the different ways in which translators and interpreters (in spoken languages and sign languages) leave traces of their body in their translations, deliberately or not.

We invite contributions on the following topics (the list is not exhaustive):

the translator as subject: phenomenological approaches to the translator’s or interpreter’s body as a determining factor in identity construction, and the discursive traces of their sensory experience;
the co-presence of the translator with the author of the text they are translating;
the translator’s emotional and affective relationship with the text, its author, and with the reader;
each language, culture, and individual relate to specific concepts and images of the body. Which are the consequences, for translation?
how is the body inscribed in a person’s writing? Antonin Artaud’s translations-adaptations into French of English-speaking authors are an interesting case of the “soul becoming body” (the words belong to Artaud himself);
translation and the intimate: in the case of self-translation, the doubling of voices makes the intimate manifest, and lays bare aspects of identity;
can bodily experience in early life, along with the sensations and emotions it triggers, be translated into another language? A number of bilingual authors, especially those who had to immigrate to a foreign country, mention their difficulties is rendering bodily experiences in a language that is not their mother tongue;
translation and censorship or self-censorship in relation to the body;
conference interpreting as a form of doubling, of special empathy. It would be particularly interesting to examine the similarities and differences between the ways in which interpreters in spoken languages and in sign languages use their bodies, focusing on the notion of “complex turns” (Jemina Napier), which puts the emphasis on collaboration;
performing translations for opera and the theatre. Possible topics include the emotions triggered in the audience by the combination of music and the spoken, translated word, or the effect of orality (“enchantement socialisateur”, in Albert Doja’s words) and its cathartic role;
Antoine Berman wrote about the “drive to translate”: how do translators speak about translation? The question here is not only one of ethics, but also of self-analysis;
translated bodies: languages usually contain a large number of phrases, set metaphors, and expressions which refer to the body. We welcome analyses of translations or adaptations, which illustrate translation challenges linked to translating (in a broad sense of the word) the body;
representations of the translator and of the interpreter in literature or film: his or her image and the relationship with the author they are translating, as well as with the reader or client.

Please send your abstract (between 400 and 500 words) in English or in French, accompanied by your bionote (80-100 words) to the three organisers, Solange Hibbs-Lissorgues (solange.hibbs@wanadoo.fr), Adriana Şerban (adriana.serban@univ-montp3.fr) and Nathalie Vincent-Arnaud (nathalie.vincent-arnaud@univ-tlse2.fr), before 31 May 2016. Notification of acceptance: before 30 June.

A selection of papers will be published after the conference.

Languages of the conference: English and French

Plenary speaker: Nicole Côté — Université de Sherbrooke

Conference advisory panel
Larisa Cercel — Universität des Saarlandes
Isabelle Nières-Chevrel — Université Rennes 2
Nicole Côté — Université de Sherbrooke
Brigitte Garcia — Université Paris 8
Florence Lautel-Ribstein — Université Paris Ouest Nanterre

Organisers
Solange Hibbs-Lissorgues — Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès
Adriana Şerban — EMMA, Université Paul-Valéry Montpellier 3
Nathalie Vincent-Arnaud — Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès

Venue
Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès

Registration fees
Before 15 September: 40 euros. Conference dinner (optional): 35 euros.
After 15 September: 60 euros. Registration closes on 15 October.
Student, retired person, unemployed person: 20 euros (before 15 September). Conference dinner (optional): 35 euros.

(posted 7 April 2016)

Arts of Healing: Cultural Narratives of Trauma
Ploieşti, Romania, 3-5 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 15 July 2016

The Department of Philology, Universitatea Petrol-Gaze din Ploieşti, The Centre of Literary Studies, Linguistics, Theory of Criticism and Culture in collaboration with The Department of English Studies, University of Cyprus invite you to the international conference Arts of Healing: Cultural Narratives of Trauma Starting with the nineties, the role of cultural memory was re-evaluated through trauma theory which has become a dominant framework within which one can investigate the transmission of catastrophic experiences. More specifically, the work of Cathy Caruth (Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narrative, and History), Shoshana Felman and Dori Laub (Testimony: Crises of Witnessing in Literature, Psychoanalysis, and History), Avishai Margalit (The Ethics of Memory), Dominick LaCapra (History and Memory after Auschwitz) has shown that, after a traumatic event, the role of memory in witnessing changes. The survivor of a trauma finds it impossible to relate to what happened to him/ her, as suffering is not easy to translate into a logical frame, and evil cannot be diagnosed. Because trauma often disrupts the mechanisms by which memory is represented and a trauma victim finds it hard to heal his/ her wounds, the testimony is invalidated and the victim is not given credibility to report events as they happened (LaCapra and Dori Laub). Whereas historians tend not to take into account the testimony of witnesses, others emphasize the responsibility of transmission.

If what has become known as the classical model of trauma has foregrounded the unrepresentability of the traumatic event, revisionist approaches seek to move beyond an aporetic understanding of trauma, investigating both intersubjective and intrasubjective psychic processes of healing (See, for example, Ruth Leys, Trauma: A Genealogy). In their ‘Mending Wounds?: Healing, Working through, or Staying in Trauma: An Introduction’ (special issue of the Journal of Literary Studies, 2013), John Masterson, David Watson and Merle Williams asked whether cultural narratives of trauma can contradict to a certain extent trauma theory that does not discuss the efficacy of working through traumas. Trauma theory showed that victims find it difficult to relate their traumatic experiences and the listener has to respect their silence (see Laub). A way to break the victim’s literal silence and overcome the prevailing malaise in verbal representation is to attempt to bypass the literary and appeal to a non-literary way of representing trauma. Traumatic memory is not always verbal; it can also be re-experienced visually. Traumas can be healed not by eliminating traumatic memories, but by communicating them in any form, not only that of the narrative but also that of any other nonverbal, ‘iconic’ forms of communication like drawing and painting. Because art can help victims and witnesses of trauma make sense of its illogical experience and communicate it visually, creative art therapies have proven to be effective in trauma treatment.

The publication in 2007 of Catherine Malabou’s Les nouveaux blessés: De Freud à là neurologie ; penser les traumatismes contemporaines has introduced a radically new framework within which to conceptualize the traumatic event and its impact on the cartography of an individual’s brain. Malabou argues that the frontier separating organic from sociopolitical traumatisms is becoming more and more fluid, given that all forms of trauma transform neuronal organization, especially those cerebral sites that Malabou calls ‘the affective brain.’ Malabou moves on to propose a general theory of trauma that seeks to understand the distinctness of ‘the new wounded,’ victims of accidental traumatisms, chronic degenerative maladies or different forms of extreme violence devoid of reason. As she insists, these new patients cannot be understood by traditional psychoanalysis because cerebral trauma destroys the core of psychical life, leaving behind it only the form of an absence. What is more, cerebral trauma breaks the hermeneutic thread that sustains the talking cure and arrests the transferential process that both psychoanalysis and classical trauma theory consider an inextricable part of the ‘art of healing.’ Malabou asks: Is it still possible to write the novel of a psychic economy deprived of infancy, cut off from all emotion, untranslatable into the language of dreams?

Taking into account the approaches described above, this conference focuses on the literary text but intends to extend the notion of cultural narratives to the other arts that can restore the impaired function of metaphor in language and heal. We welcome individual paper presentations, panels and posters that explore topics in the following areas, but are not limited to:

Trauma: between remembering and forgetting
Witnessing and healing trauma in literature and the visual arts
The discourse of trauma, healing through language
Cultural narratives of healing after trauma
Creative art therapies, healing through the arts
The temporalities of trauma
The transmissibility/translatability of trauma
Neuropsychoanalytic approaches to trauma

Keynote speakers:

Associate Professor dr. Maria Margaroni, University of Cyprus
Professor Hab. Silviu Lupaşcu, University of Galați

Conference sections. The conference consists of the following sections:

Cultural and Critical Theory
Literary and Translation Studies
Linguistics Studies and Discourse Analysis
Cultural Anthropology and Philosophy
Visual Arts

The five potential strands may be merged depending on the final conference programme.
The official languages of the conference are English and French.

Abstract submission: Please email the completed form (available on the conference website) to conference.upg@gmail.com
Abstract proposals should be written in the language of the presentation and be up to 300 wordslong. Please include a short indicative bibliography of up to five titles. Individual papers willbe allotted 30 minutes (20 minutes – presentation, 10 minutes – discussion time), while panelsand workshops should last no longer than 90 minutes per session.
All abstracts will be peer-reviewed by the organizing committee of the conference.
Deadline: The abstract submission deadline (including panel proposals) is 15 July 2016 and thenotification of acceptance will be received by 30 July 2016.
For more details, please consult the conference site at http://artsofhealing.wix.com/conferenceupg

(posted 3 May 2016)

Revisiting the North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North
Nancy, France, 4-5 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 1 March 2016

Conference sponsored by CRECIB and organised by Université Sorbonne Nouvelle-Paris 3 (CREW- CREC EA 4399) and Université de Lorraine (IDEA and LOTERR).

This multidisciplinary conference, which is intended for researchers in the fields of British studies, geography and other social sciences (political science, sociology, economics and history), aims at analysing various changes specific to the North of Britain (regarding territory, society, culture, identity, politics, etc.).

In the 21st century, when seeking to understand the socio-economic problems facing the regions of the North of Great Britain or the ‘Norths’ (not only the North of England but also Scotland, Wales and even Northern Ireland) and to define their relationship with the South of England (particularly London), is it still appropriate to refer to the North-South divide?
What is the cultural, social and economic heritage of these territories?
What is their political and economic place today?
Is it still relevant to refer to a North-South divide in view of contemporary regional conditions and dynamics?
To what extent have the 2008 crisis and the reforms conducted by the Cameron government affected regional balance?
What are the perceptions and representations of identity, as well as the individual and collective experiences of the inhabitants of Northern England (‘Northerners’), in relation to London and to Scotland?
What is the place of the North in public policy in a context of partial devolution of powers?
Is it possible to observe the (re)emergence of a single distinct identity (or of several identities) as well as a distinct form of governance for the North of England within a post-devolution United Kingdom?
Finally, can parallels be drawn with other European regions displaying similar divisions?

To answer these questions, the conference will be divided into four main strands. For full details see the Conference website: http://idea-udl.org/conference-north-en/

Abstracts (500 words with a short bio) should be sent by 1st March, 2016 to the following address: conference-north-contact@univ-lorraine.fr

Organising Committee : Emmanuelle AVRIL (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Mark BAILONI (Université de Lorraine), David FEE (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3), Corinne NATIVEL (Université Paris-Est Créteil), Roseline THÉRON (Université de Lorraine), Jeremy TRANMER (Université de Lorraine).

(posted 27 January 2016)

Shaping Ends: Aspects of Apocalypse
Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UK, 5 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

1611-CLSG The conference will address topics relating to endings in literary narrative, history, apocalypse etc. Details can be found on the website of the Christian Literary Studies Group, http://www.clsg.org/html/conference.html

Papers should have a reading time of 25 minutes and be of a standard suitable for publication subsequently in The Glass. Preference is given to contributions exploring Christian and Biblical themes in literature.

The deadline for proposals, which should be emailed to Dr Roger Kojecký (secretary@clsg.org), is 31 May 2016. Your proposal should give a provisional title, should state in a few words how you will tackle your topic, and give brief information about your background.

Website of the Christian Literary Studies Group: http://www.clsg.org

(posted 25 February 2016)

Science Fiction and Fantasy International Conference
School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Portugal, 16-18 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

Science Fiction and Fantasy objects are a permanent part of today’s cultural industry. From the margins to mainstream culture, their ubiquity demands critical debate beyond the preconception of pop culture made for mass entertainment. The University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (ULICES) invites you to take part in the 4th International Conference Messengers From the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy to be held at the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, November 16-18, 2016. We welcome papers of about 20 minutes (maximum) and also joint proposals for thematic panels consisting of 3 or 4 participants. Postgraduate and undergraduate students are also welcomed to participate.

Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

Artificial Intelligence
Comic Books/Graphic Novels
Fan Fiction/Fandom
Fantasy and Children’s Literature
Fantasy and Science Fiction on Screen (Cinema, TV, Web, etc.)
Fantasy and the Gothic
Imagination and Fantasy
Journey
Music and Science Fiction
Place and Non-place
Science and Fiction
Utopias/Dystopias
Videogames

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Andrew M. Butler – School of Media, Art and Design (Canterbury, UK)
Katherine Fowkes – High Point University (NC, USA)

Deadlines:
Individual papers, as well as thematic panel proposals, should have 250 words maximum and be sent to mensageirosdasestrelas@gmail.com along with a short biographical note (100 words maximum) by May 31, 2016.
Notification of acceptance will be sent by June 30, 2016.
Working Languages: Portuguese and English

Registration:
Early bird registration: July 1st – September 15th: 70 € / Students: 30 €
Late bird registration: September 16th – October 31st: 80 € / Students: 40 €

Note:
Only after proof of payment is registration effectively considered.
Participants are responsible for their own travelling arrangements and accommodation.
Undergraduate and post-graduate students must send proof of student status with their registration.

(posted 18 March 2016)

Scottish women and the constitution of the idea of Scotland: SFEEc conference
Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), France, 16-18 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 15 June 2016

Keynote Speakers:

Janice Galloway
Prof. Glenda Norquay
Prof. Ian Brown

There are outstanding women in the history of Scotland, from Mary Queen of Scots to Jackie Kay or recently Nicola Sturgeon, but overall, the history both of the country and of the country’s literature is mostly male. Tom Devine’s The Scottish Nation: 1700-2000 (1999, 2006) includes a chapter specifically devoted to Scottish women, a fact which, in itself, points to the lack of integration of women into the mainstream of Scottish history. In the field of literary history, there have been in the last two decades several publications, such as Aileen Christianson and Alison Lumsden’s Contemporary Scottish Women Writing (2000), devoted to women artists’ specificity, and therefore recognizing the part they play in the cultural make up of the country. At a time when Scotland is envisaging itself as a nation again, when both the country’s First Minister and the Scottish Makar are women, the conference will examine what place there is for women in Scotland, and their role in the constitution of our idea of the nation over the centuries.
We therefore invite contributions on women and Scotland, on the part played by women in Scotland’s history and politics, but also on individual artists, contemporary or of the past.

Papers can address the following issues:

The history of women in Scotland
Gender politics in Scotland
Women in politics
The changing role of Women after WWI and WWII
Feminism in Scotland
The Women for Independence movement
Women playwrights and writers of the 19th and 20th century
The part played by women in the constitution of the literary and artistic canon
Women in literature : women characters in Scottish literature
Women and the church
The current trend to identify and publicize the action of “outstanding women of Scotland” (see for example the Saltire Society’s initiatives of 2014 and 2015)
Individual women artists or historical /political figures

Proposals for 20-minute papers on these or other relevant topics should be sent by email to Marie-Odile Pittin-Hedon at marie-odile.hedon@univ-amu.fr. Papers can be in French or in English. A selection of papers will be published.

Please include the following information

the full title of your paper
a 200-word abstract
your name, postal and e-mail address
your university affiliation
a short biographical notz

Deadline for proposals: June 15, 2016.
Notification of acceptance: July 15, 2016

(posted 31 May 2016)

“They fell and taught others how to grieve”. War in Poetry: Breaking into family and everyday life
Université de Poitiers, France, 17 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 20 July 2016

Organiser Stéphanie Noirard
Laboratoire FoReLL B1, Université de Poitiers, France
Guest speaker: Professor emeritus Roderick Watson (University of Stirling), who will discuss the intrusion of war in his own poetry and the way war affected the poets of his generation.

The soldier poets of modern war had direct and brutal experience of the frontline thus connecting their artistic works with historical testimony or transforming them into the overflow of memory, disturbed and obsessed by conflict. But what about the poetry of those who witnessed war as children or wives, or experienced it second-hand through absence and worry, through the stories and sometimes the violence of their fathers or husbands, through the transformation of their daily lives? Experts are still debating the consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder on war veterans, but since the 1990s, they have agreed on a series of symptoms such as depression, nightmares, hallucinations, which affects any person, including children, who is a victim of trauma, a Greek term for an open wound. It is perhaps no wonder that war scenes, conflict and violence, should intrude into and impinge – through thematic or structural devastation – on the poems of soldiers’ wives or children, or in the texts of those who grew up during times of conflict and in their immediate aftermath. Art thus seems to belligerently intrude into the poetizing of these memories, breaking away from and destructuring codes and forms while asserting itself and attempting to survive in places where it may be least expected. Beyond these more or less conscious memories, however, there is also a desire to appropriate war for oneself or to exorcise it, and infraction of history as poets try to romanticize or demonize the conflict or when they write about invented memories or facts distorted by the imagination of the children they were at the time.
The aim of this one day conference is to probe into these issues in English poetry, focusing particularly on the notions of traces (real or invented testimony, exposition, reminiscences, haunting memories) and intrusion (unexpected irruption, uncanny presence, formal or thematic breaches). The First and Second World War will be at the centre of our attention but papers on the Vietnam War, on the conflicts in Northern Ireland or on more recent conflicts will also be welcomed.

Abstracts in English or French should be sent before July 20 to:
Stéphanie Noirard, stephanie.noirard@univ-poitiers.fr

(posted 13 June 2016)

Will Forever Young
University of Milan, 17-18 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 15 April 2016

April 2016 marks the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death. While Shakespeare’s plays remain classics in theatres all over the world, he is an unshakeable presence in contemporary traces as he is reworked by contemporary artists in plays and films, music and art. Sometimes he enters prisons, schools and the workplace, becoming a vital part of our intercultural present. An interdisciplinary, international group of theatre specialists and practitioners will be presenting a programme that culminates in a week of multi-faceted events devoted to Shakespeare 400 years after.

The Organising Committee invites early career researchers (holding a Ph.D) to submit proposals for 20-minute papers (plus 10 minutes for discussion) that critically explore the Shakespearean legacy. Please note that English is the official language of the conference.

The main threads of the conference include but are not restricted to the following:

Shakespeare and contemporary arts (graffiti, illustrations…)
Shakespeare and contemporary music/dance (hip hop, rap…)
Shakespeare in films, TV series and web series
Shakespeare in graphic novels and comics

Please include the following information with your proposal:

the full title of your paper
a 500-word abstract
A bio-note
any AV requirements you may have

Please submit your proposal by e-mail by 15 April 2016 to Dr. Cristina Paravano (cristina.paravano@unimi.it) and Dr. Marco Canani (marco.canani@unimi.it).

Notification of acceptance will be given by 23 April 2016.
Finished papers should be emailed to us by 30 September 2016.
Selected papers will be published in a special issue of the journal Altre Modernità. Other Modernities. (http://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/AMonline) in September 2017.

Scientific Committee: Mariacristina Cavecchi (University of Milan), Russell Jackson (University of Birmingham), Margaret Rose (University of Milan)

Scientific commitee early career researchers: Marco Canani (University of Milan), Mauro Gentile (University of Milan), Cristina Paravano (University of Milan), Sara Sullam (University of Milan)

(posted 11 March 2016)

Tense, Aspect, Modality – Evidentiality: Comparative, Cognitive, Theoretical and Applied Perspectives
University of Paris Diderot, France, 17-18 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 10 May 2016

The CLILLAC-ARP research team at the University of Paris Diderot, in collaboration with the LaTTiCe (Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 3 University, CNRS), will be holding an international linguistics conference on Tense, Aspect, Modality – Evidentiality. The conference aims to gather researchers working on TAM-E in one or more of the following research areas:

Comparative linguistics: any typological, contrastive and/or crosslinguistic approach to an issue related to the description of TAM-E systems.
Cognitive linguistics: research exploring links between epistemic modality, evidentiality or mirativity and mental/cognitive representations.
Theoretical linguistics: any theoretical perspective on at least one aspect of TAM-E.
Applied linguistics: first or second language acquisition of at least one aspect of TAM-E systems.

We welcome proposals for:

paper presentations (20 minutes + 10 minutes for questions)
roundtable presentations for doctoral students (15 minutes + 15 minutes discussion)

300 word abstracts (plus references) in French or English will state the research hypothesis, methodology, data, findings and the area(s) of research as listed above.
Proposals should be submitted via Sciencesconf.org by May 10, 2016.
https://tam-e2016.sciencesconf.org/

Key dates :
May 10 : Abstract submission deadline
June 30: Notification of acceptance
July 1 – September 15 : Early bird registration (100 euros; 50 euros for graduate students)
September 16 – November 16: regular registration (130 euros; 50 euros for graduate students)
November 17: Registration closes

Conference fee includes registration, coffee breaks and reception on Friday, November 18
Conference dinner: 40 euros
Contact: tam-e-paris2016@univ-paris-diderot.fr

Sponsors:
Université Paris Diderot, CLILLAC-ARP EA 3967
Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle, CNRS, LaTTiCe UMR 8094
Labex TransferS
Labex Fondements Empiriques de la Linguistique (EFL)
Université Sorbonne Paris Cité

Venue:
Université Paris Diderot, Paris
http://www.univ-paris-diderot.fr/english/sc/site.php?bc=accueil&np=accueil&g=m/
The University of Chicago, Center in Paris
https://centerinparis.uchicago.edu/

Plenary Speakers:

Gosselin Laurent (Université de Rouen)
Michaelis Laura (University of Colorado, Boulder)
Sorace Antonella (University of Edinburgh)
Tournadre Nicolas (Aix-Marseille Université)
Croft William (University of New Mexico) (via videoconferencing)

(posted 4 April 2016)

International Conference ICT for Language Learning 9th edition
Florence, Italy, 17-18 November 2016
New extended deadline for proposals: 5 September 2016

Lecturers, teachers, researchers and experts in the field of language learning are invited to submit papers for the ninth edition of the International Conference ICT for Language Learners which will take place in Florence, Italy, on 17 – 18 November 2016.

Extended deadline for submitting abstracts: 5 September 2016

The objective of the ICT for Language Learning conference is to promote the sharing of good practice and transnational cooperation in the field of the application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to Language Learning and Teaching. The ICT for Language Learning conference will also be an excellent opportunity for the presentation of previous and current language learning projects and innovative initiatives.

All accepted papers will be included in the Conference Proceedings published by LibreriaUniversitaria with ISBN and ISSN codes. This publication will be sent to be reviewed for inclusion in SCOPUS (https://www.elsevier.com/solutions/scopus). .Papers will also be included in the sharing platform ACADEMIA.EDU (https://www.academia.edu/)

Oral, poster and virtual presentations will be available.

For further information, please see: http://conference.pixel-online.net/ICT4LL/

(posted 29 April 2016, updated 29 July 2016)

Expanding the lexicon – Linguistic Innovation, Morphological Productivity, and the Role of Discourse-Related Factors
University of Trier, Germany, 17-18 November 2016
Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 10 July 2016

Traditionally, the creation of new lexical units and patterns – understood in a wide sense as not being necessarily limited to the word level – has been studied in different research frameworks. Whereas approaches focusing on morphological productivity are directed at system-internal (‘grammatical’) morphological processes, other approaches have aimed at identifying general types of lexical innovation and describing them in the larger context of lexical change, thus integrating system-external factors related to the historical background of the innovations and their diffusion.

The workshop is intended to bring together these different research traditions in order to discuss fundamental aspects of dynamic processes in the lexicon, and to bring new evidence to bear on the traditional dividing line between approaches oriented towards system-internal and system-external aspects. We invite papers on ongoing changes in the lexicon as well as on historical processes of change, and we also invite submissions reflecting upon methodological aspects. Promising areas of discussion are, among others:

How and under which circumstances do new lexical units and patterns emerge?
What is the role of contextual factors, conditions of usage and discourse traditions in the creation of new lexical units and patterns?
What counts as an ‘innovation’? What is the status of innovations?
How can lexical innovations and productive patterns be identified?
What are the (structural, semantic, phonetic…) properties of innovations in language use?
How are the innovations described metalinguistically (e.g. in lexicographic and grammaticographical sources)?
How do lexical innovations and new morphological patterns diffuse?

We invite abstracts for paper presentations (25 min + 20 min discussion). Languages of presentation will be English, French or German, but the papers may also deal with other languages. If you would like to participate in the workshop, please send an abstract of 250 to 300 words to winterfroemel@uni-trier.de and brauna@uni-trier.de by 10 July 2016. We plan to offer publication to selected papers in a dedicated volume within the book series ‘The Dynamics of Wordplay’ (De Gruyter). The language of publication will be English.

Child care can be organized onsite for workshop participants. Please get in touch with us beforehand if you would like to find out more about this service.

Invited speakers:

Wiltrud Mihatsch (Tübingen)
Damaris Nübling (Mainz)
Ingo Plag (Düsseldorf)

Important dates:

10.7.2016 Deadline for submission of abstracts
4.8.2016 Notification of acceptance
17. & 18.11.2016 Workshop, University of Trier
15.3.2017 Submission of full papers
Autumn 2017 Publication of volume

Workshop website: https://www.uni-trier.de/index.php?id=59569&L=2

Workshop organizers:

Esme Winter-Froemel, Romance linguistics, Universität Trier, winterfroemel@uni-trier.de
Sabine Arndt-Lappe, English linguistics, Universität Trier arndtlappe@uni-trier.de
Angelika Braun, Phonetics, Universität Trier, brauna@uni-trier.de
Claudine Moulin, German Philology, Historical Linguistics, and Trier Center for Digital Humanities, Universität
Trier, moulin@uni-trier.de

(posted 23 May 2016)

Transmediating Culture(s)?
Szczecin University, Department of English, Szczecin, Poland, 17-19 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 14 March 2016

“Medium is the message,” as Marshall McLuhan asserted in his seminal 1964 work entitled Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. In so doing he simultaneously blurred the line between the traditionally envisioned, binary notion of the content and form. Forty two years later, in 2006, Henry Jenkins clearly demonstrated, via his widely acclaimed Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, the medium/message rapport to be a process, not an endpoint. In consequence, this representational cultural model has also assumed its own agency thus becoming performative of broadly understood cultural workings. In 2016, with culture transmedialization — popularly conceived of as “transition in the making” — being a fact of life, McLuhan’s famous statement could, accordingly, be re/configured in the following way: “how is (cultural) message trans/mediated?”
Interfusing human life to the point of making it a (post)human mode of (post)cultural production, the trans/mediated (cultural) message can appear as, primarily, a peculiar affective practice, enabling a more effective cooperation of all cultural agents. However, such an apparent “affection-image,” to paraphrase Gilles Deleuze, of culture, might be perceived as but a audio-visual trick played on us by those who economically control the culture industry. In effect, the resulting “cultural franchise” can also crop up as a performance of concrete knowledge and hence a “political demonstration” of/against what in the idiom of Michel Foucault is a “cartography of power.”
For the purpose of pondering over these and other questions, we would like to invite all who want to explore the multiple — theoretical and practical — transdisciplinary ways in which transmediality activates, questions, complicates, re/formulates, de/stabilizes etc. cultural productions.

SUBMISSIONS & DEADLINES
We invite abstracts of up to 300 words, to be sent in MS Word and Pdf format to: transmediatingcultures2016@gmail.com
Abstracts should be received by: March 14, 2016
Acceptance notifications will be sent out by April 10, 2016

FEES & REGISTRATION
A registration fee of €120 (PLN 500) will apply to researchers
A registration fee of € 60 (PLN 300) will apply to doctoral students

Conference organizers:
Justyna Stępień, PhD
Beata Zawadka, PhD

(posted 6 January 2016)

Understanding Wellbeing: Representations, Discourse and Policy
Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France, 18-19 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 10 July 2016

This international conference, organised by CERVEPAS/CREW (EA 4399), is the second in a series on wellbeing in the Anglosphere

The 2014 wellbeing conference held at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University identified a wealth of literature and political interest in the concept of ‘wellbeing’, but found that it remained a multi-faceted, fuzzy, ill-defined concept, despite attempts by researchers and policymakers to explore the nature and drivers of wellbeing. Many publications dealing with the notion refer to other concepts such as happiness or ‘economic, social and environmental sustainability’ (Layard, 2006; Scott, 2012).

Wellbeing is a concept which was first scientifically examined in the field of psychology. Today the disciplinary borderline between psychology and economics seems to be blurred. It is certainly not surprising that economics recently became centred on human behaviour with the development of ‘behavioural macroeconomics’ (George Akerlov, who received the Nobel Prize in 2001). The following year, two psychologists were awarded the Nobel Prize for economics: Daniel Kahneman “for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty” and Vernon L. Smith “for having established laboratory experiments as a tool in empirical economic analysis, especially in the study of alternative market mechanisms”.

However, historically speaking, wellbeing derives from the concept of happiness, since the Ancient Greek only referred to happiness. Aristotle distinguished between two different types of happiness: eudaimonic happiness, which refers to true happiness achieved by leading a virtuous life and doing what is worthwhile, with the realisation of human potential as the ultimate goal, and hedonistic happiness, derived from mere personal pleasure and contentment. It seems that the notion ‘wellbeing’ as such appeared recently as a rather modern concept which you could not consider before the Enlightenment era with the French and American revolutions which brought the ‘pursuit of happiness’ up to the status of a ‘human inalienable right’ in 1776. The same year Jeremy Bentham addressed happiness as a measure of societal wellbeing to promote utility or ‘the greatest happiness for the greatest number’ (Brunon-Ernst, 2014).

Recent attention to wellbeing has focused on subjective wellbeing which, in the field of economics, is close to John Stuart Mill’s ‘deliberative utilitarianism’: how people think and feel about their lives. Indeed, Mill rejected hedonism and defended human happiness that consisted in the exercise of one’s rational capacities. Emphasis on ‘deliberative’ wellbeing emerged after the publication of the 2009 study on alternatives to GDP, commissioned by French president Nicolas Sarkozy and led by the economists Jean-Paul Fitoussi, Amartya Sen and Joseph Stiglitz (Fitoussi, Sen, Stiglitz, 2009). The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) took on the recommendations of the report and produced a dashboard of indicators to measure both objective and subjective wellbeing. In the same vein, in 2010, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was asked by Prime Minister David Cameron to create a ‘UK happiness index’ as part of a £2m-a-year wellbeing project. ONS documentation refers to this kind of subjective wellbeing as evaluative accounts, which it claims is privileged over hedonistic accounts in government and recognized non-government surveys in the UK (ONS 2010, 2012, 2016). Recent approaches thus see wellbeing as “having three core dimensions: the material that emphasises practical welfare and standards of living; the relational that emphasises personal and social relations; and the subjective that emphasises values and perceptions. The three dimensions are interlinked and their demarcations are highly fluid (McGregor, 2007; Sumner and Mallett, 2013)”.

However, the emphasis on subjective wellbeing and, in particular, ‘deliberative’ utilitarianism moves the focus away from other more objective concerns linked to inequality or welfare (Blanchflower, 2009; Gadrey, 2012). Indeed, the current wellbeing measures in the UK take no account of structural inequalities or social relations between communities, which are also significant key drivers of wellbeing. Moreover, subjective wellbeing is close to the sense of economic utility, relating to ‘personal benefit gained by an individual from a particular interaction or a particular behavior’ (Eichhorn 2013). This fits the British neo-liberal model defined by a market-led approach, a high level of risk taking, individualism and a low level of de-commodification (Esping-Andersen, 1990;Soskice and Hall, 2001; Catherine Coron, 2016). The resurgence of 19th century laissez-faire economic liberalism since the 1980s is thus a key to the current context of wellbeing, which favours less general social welfare and a greater need to measure individual wellbeing (Scott, 2012; Eichhorn, 2013).

Nevertheless, there does not seem to be the same enthusiasm for wellbeing measurement in the US, where the neo-liberal model is also a significant framework for the economic, political and social landscape. Indeed, promoters of wellbeing measurement (Miringoff, 1999; Kahneman & Krueger, 2006; Gallup, 2008-2016) have had trouble in convincing agencies, legislators, and the general public that it would be worthwhile collecting and analysing subjective wellbeing data to guide public policy. This is surprising in a country whose Declaration of Independence clearly states that the pursuit of happiness is one of the inalienable rights of its citizens. Perhaps studies that have shown that the motivation to pursue happiness does not translate into greater wellbeing for Americans have dampened enthusiasm to go beyond GDP and measure wellbeing in this country (Easterlin, 1974; Lane, 2000; Frey and Stutzer, 2002; Shah and Marks, 2004, Pauwels).

Yet, if we look closer at the evidence, wellbeing is a defining feature of public policy both in the US and the UK and, indeed, in many other English-speaking nations, in a variety of different economic and social settings. This conference thus aims to go beyond the definitional complexities and explore how wellbeing has been and is currently represented in the literature and in political discourse in the Anglosphere to promote specific economic and social agendas and/or to promote public policy. We would welcome contributions that deal with the following issues:

Historical representations of wellbeing promoting public policy and practice
Wellbeing representation in literature of the Anglosphere, and its impact on society
Contemporary political discourse on wellbeing in policymaking
Wellbeing discourse and policy in a variety of economic and social settings: education policy and practice, health systems and services, labour market reform, sustainable development and the environment, public policy at the regional level…

Proposals (300-500 words) and a short biography (5-10 lines) should be sent by 10 July 2016 to Louise Dalingwater at louise.dalingwater@univ-paris3.fr, to Catherine Coron at catherine.coron@u-paris2.fr, and to François Ropert at francois.ropert@u-cergy.fr.

(posted 18 May 2016)

Conflict, Power and their Representations
Université du Maine, Le Mans, France, 18-19 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 30 April 2016

The concept of conflict is omnipresent in the public and therefore in the political sphere but it is also a key part of the intellectual domain. In the field of literature every work is bound to describe or comment on various forms of conflict. Agôn and polemos have always been part of literature and politics.

The aim of this interdisciplinary international conference, which takes place after the previous conferences organized by the Power Studies Network in Caen, Poitiers and Paris Ouest Nanterre, is to interrogate the intertwining of the concepts of conflict and power. The conflicts between various forms of power will be tackled from a political, sociological or legal point of view.

We will deal with conflicts between social groups, conflicts between the three branches of power (executive, legislative, judiciary) that, according to Montesquieu, have to be separate in order to balance each other (the famous checks and balances of the US Constitution), conflicts between candidates running for election, conflicts between various interest groups. This analysis amounts to questioning the usual ways in which every society deals with social, political and economic conflicts.

In the field of international relations, that is, in a Hobbesian world of the “war of all against all” (Bellum omnium contra omnes), conflict is, of course, the rule. Thus this conference might address the making of a conflict in a given context but also the management, the avoidance or resolution of these conflicts. The idea that any power leads to the creation of a counter-power and therefore creates conflict is fertile in all the areas of intellectual or artistic activity.

One may wonder why the word “conflict” seems to have only negative connotations although as Frances Fox Piven argues “conflict is the very heartbeat of social movements”. The absence of conflict in cases of domination, therefore when one type of power triumphs, is not a sign of harmony but rather a way of silencing dissent or a mystification. Conflict can thus be viewed as a source of life which has a regulating effect that can balance various powers.

In the field of art, whether in movies or visual arts (painting, photography…) as well as in literature and poetry the representation of conflict, whether it be war, matrimonial quarrels (Hogarth, Mariage à la mode), the representation of social or political conflict is a standard feature. Thus war narratives or photographs openly or indirectly aim at contesting or invalidating the dominant discourse conveyed by the powers that be through specific processes or techniques. One may here refer to Goya and his series of prints known as The Disasters of War which foreground the brutal reality of war and eliminates what made acts of war appear glorious or heroic.

Concerning so-called religious conflicts, one may wonder how disagreements lead to confrontations, how negotiations or settlements come about. How can one give a non-religious interpretation of these conflicts? Is there a new propensity to conflict in urban areas or new ways to accommodate conflicting interests? Can the city, the space where a multiplicity of actors with diverging interests meet in a more or less integrated space, become the locus of power, a politicized space where various groups can exert power? What literary or artistic representations of urban conflict can emerge from this?

Participants in this conference may also choose to deal with the staging of these conflicts by the media and link their analysis with philosophical or cultural interpretations of power.

This resolutely transdisciplinary conference is thus open to topics and issues dealt with by social science, history, literary or artistic criticism and philosophy. Macho power as well as military power, biopower (Foucault), the power of lobbies or the power of elites (C.W Mills) necessarily create conflicts and can be deconstructed by gender or feminist analysis and thanks to a sociological, political or philosophical approach. In all these fields the conference will study the relationship between power, counter-power and conflict. The sources of power in all its forms and its various modalities are thus within the parameters of this conference.

Dead line for proposals: April 30, 2016 to:

Eliane Elmaleh : eliane.elmaleh@univ-lemans.fr
Taoufik Djeballi : taoufik.djebali@unicaen.fr
Salah Oueslati : salah.oueslati@univ-poitiers.fr
Pierre Guerlain : pierre.guerlain@gmail.com

(posted 25 March 2016)

Migrations: 3rd Croatian National Conference of English Studies
University of Zadar, Croatia, 18-19 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 1st July 2016

Venue: University of Zadar, Department of English; Address: Obala k. Petra Krešimira IV., 23000, Zadar, Croatia

Organizers:

HDAS branch, Zadar (Department of English, University of Zadar)
HDAS branch, Zagreb (Department of English, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Zagreb)

Plenary speakers:
– Literature and Culture:

Prof. Liliane Louvel (University of Poitiers), ESSE president
Prof. Pierre Lurbe (University of Paris-Sorbonne), SAES president

– Linguistics:

Prof. Minna Pallander-Collin (University of Helsinki), FINSSE president
Prof. Lieven Buysse (University of Brussels), BAAHE president

Migrations have always been an important influence on human history, society, and social change, across different historical periods and various contexts. They can be rural, urban, and suburban or national and international, external or internal, forced or voluntary, permanent or temporary, organized or spontaneous, and seasonal. Due to the diverse causes and effects of contemporary migrations, the research into issues raised by migration phenomena encompasses various scientific disciplines and methods. Different academic skills and methodological approaches used in research on migrations produce different scientific results.
Postcolonial research into British culture, colonial literature, and sociolinguistic issues of language contact (e.g. pidgin and creole languages), has for a long time occupied an important position in the study of English. However, new migration phenomena that appeared in the 20th century raise new research questions on the impact of migrations on culture and language. After the waves of migration set off by colonial expansion and imperial conquest subsided, the new political developments in the 20th century set in motion new migration flows in Europe, and across the world. Massive waves of migration have been set off by World War II due to the totalitarian politics which excluded anyone perceived as a threat to the national ideology. New forms of migration have also been triggered by the contemporary political scene which is on the one hand marked by globalization, and on the other hand by new political tendencies which strive to unite the European countries into a single state – the European Union. Contemporary migration trends are accounted for by the crumbling of the modern nation-state, and the establishment of new transnational communities. The fluidity of national and cultural boundaries became increasingly important with respect to global terrorism and war on terror. The new economic climate grounded in liberal capitalism and free market economy encourages economic migration. In addition, the last two years have been marked by the migrant crisis set in motion by numerous armed conflicts in the Middle East. Migrations remain an important part of English studies, both within the postcolonial paradigm of imperial conquest and colonization, as well as with respect to contemporary migration issues.
The aim of the HDAS conference of English studies is to initiate research into the impact of migrations on English language and literature, in various historical periods, and from diverse perspectives. What is the impact of globalization on national communities? Does the weakening of national identities, often related to nationalism, necessarily imply the creation of more democratic communities? Can we talk of local cultures and communities, or does transnationalism involve a complete loss of identity? What are the implications of the counter-terrorist policies introduced after 9/11? How does literature respond to the trauma of exile? What is the status of English language in the global world? Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

migrations and age groups
migrations of human communities
emigrant and immigrant communities
nomadism as identity
migrations and the melting pot phenomenon
gendered migration across history
migrations and national and international politics
invisible migrations
class migrations
migrations and colonialism
migrations and the E/empire
migrations and nationalism
global terrorism and war on terror
migrations and the media
the role of new technologies in migration prevention
migrations and migration spaces (e.g. imperial metropolis vs. the colonies)
migrant networks (formal and informal)
planned and spontaneous migrations
migration and religion
economic, business, and trade migration
transmigration or palingenesis
migration and migrant biographies
trauma and exile literature
migrations and the myth of origin
literature and nostalgia
migrations and travelogues
intercultural theatrepageants, touring theatres, and theatre festivals
inclusion and exclusion and migration
language contact and migrations
multilingualism and multiculturalism and migration
tourist migrations and language
chain migrations
learning and teaching English as a second language (ESL) and migrations

Organizing Board: Doc.dr.sc. Ivo Fabijanić, Doc.dr.sc. Lidija Štrmelj, Doc.dr.sc. Vesna Ukić-Košta, Doc.dr.sc. Anna Martinović, Doc.dr.sc. Martina Domines Veliki, Doc.dr.sc. Irena Zovko Dinković, Dr.sc. Stela Letica, Krevelj, Slavica Troskot, prof., Emilija Mustapić, mag., Monika Bregović, prof., Frane Malenica, mag., Dino Dumančić, mag.

Activities:

sessions on Migrations
roundtable: English Studies in Croatia – the present and the future
annual HDAS convention

Conference fee:

presenters (and authors) and roundtable participants – members of HDAS: 200,00 kn; non-HDAS members: 300,00 kn
listeners – members of HDAS: 150,00 kn; non-HDAS members: 200,00 kn
graduate and doctoral students – members of HDAS: 50,00 kn; non-HDAS members: 100,00 kn

Language (abstracts, papers, presentations): English;
(roundtable and annual convention): Croatian, English

Abstract deadline: July 1st 2016
Notification of acceptance: August 1st, 2016
Conference fee and registration deadline: September 1st, 2016
Papers due: November 6th, 2016

Registration forms, conference fee receipts, and abstracts should be sent to: stela.letica@gmail.com
Full call for papers: http://hdas.ffzg.unizg.hr/?page_id=205

(posted 29 April 2016, updated 11 May 2016)

Borders and areas of contact in Anglophone cultures, literatures, and art
Université de Strasbourg, France, 18-19 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 15 June 2016

A conference organized by EA2325 SEARCH of the Universit of Strasbourg

Borders, standing as they do as markers of identity and high stakes of power, constitute a dominating issue in contemporary societies, as exemplified by Brexit, the Scottish referendum of 2014, the jungle at Calais or the Trump Wall. The conference sets out to look at the concept of border as a space of relations that involves lines of contact, lines of division and, overlapping these, an undetermined zone of non-contact or in-betweeness. Theoretical definitions and apprehensions of the border – philosophical, political and aesthetic – will be probed to examine how this concept is and has been embodied in different Anglophone contexts.

As the history of borders testifies, ‘bordering’ the world is conventionally seen as a way of attributing it sense and meaning. Whether one conceives the border as limit, margin, edge, boundary or frontier, it always enacts material, tangible or symbolic distinctions between inside and outside, sameness and otherness, the sacred and the secular.
From Roman times and the construction of Hadrian’s Wall to the English Middle Ages, fluctuating territorial divisions were established and challenged by trade and channels of communication. The constitution of centralized States in Europe during the Renaissance and the Early Modern period might suggest the emergence of more essentialist conceptions of borders, but these are today recurrently questioned, with their contingency being emphasized.
Contested borders are also central to the history of the British Empire and decolonization, in the process of which new territorial entities were defined, to remain, in some cases, significant sources of conflict to this day. The partition of Ireland in 1921 (which preceded other partitions in the English-speaking world) and the very vivid divides that still persist today in Northern Ireland between the nationalist/Catholic and unionist/Protestant communities are equally a prime example of such contestations. In the U.S.A., the “Frontier” was used as a conceptual tool to push an imperial project but a new history of the West has emerged as a reaction to F.J. Turner’s Frontier Thesis, showing that the border has been the object of rewritings, renegotiations and re-appropriations.
Today, the border is no longer conceived as a ‘natural’ entity but rather as the product of a series of cultural, economic, military and political relations.

In the history of Anglophone literature, the border, probably due to its elusiveness, has proven to be an essential concept. As book history shows, the notion of border is related to the codification of works, to the history of genres and to editorial processes. The border is also a central feature of different literary aesthetics. While implicitly part and parcel of the travel book tradition, borders abound in the realist novel and in domains as diverse as medieval literature and gothic fiction: borders, between madness and reason, body and mind, individual and society, are often the essential source and space of instability.
Postcolonialism is another relevant literary domain, a tradition in which migrant, diasporic, hybrid and ethnic writings address the question of liminality between cultures and the status of cartography as identity marker. Equally essential are the critical tensions one finds in postmodern literature between the border and the borderless, form and formlessness, flux and fixity.
In artistic practices, there have been many attempts at attributing specific set boundaries to art and to its space of representation (two examples of this being the hierarchy of genres established by academies of fine art and Clement Greenberg’s concept of ‘medium specificity’). Functioning as spatial and generic demarcations, such artistic “borders” can create a desire for transgression and hybridity. Such a desire opens up the frame and effaces the border or boundary between the work and its surrounding visible field (for instance Land Art and Street Art, as well as immersive spaces of representation).

The border is therefore a powerfully epistemological issue. We invite papers within the following critical frameworks:

1. Borders and their visibility
To reread borders is to question their actual visibility, their real existence as such and the form they take. It supposes studying the different ways borders are materially inscribed in space, whether they are mobile or immobile, flexible or inflexible. It will also consist of bringing to light ‘invisible’ borders, of uncovering tensions between the singular ‘real’ border that marks off a single territory and the multiplicity of other borders, be they invisible, imaginary, forgotten or precarious. Indeed, one may wonder the extent to which the phenomenon of globalization has effaced the existence of borders.

The question of visibility equally runs through literature, the arts and music, where form, genre and mode are major concerns. How does a text achieve or operate closure? Is it a question of aesthetics, structure, form, conceptuality or ideology? The political dimension of this question may also be reflected upon. This finds expression in and through the various modes of legitimation and valorization established by authorities and public bodies (institutions, education, publishers, criticism, the canon, anthologies).

2. The uses and experiences of the border

Exploring the uses and the experiences of the border implies taking to task approaches that privilege the unchangeable or ‘inviolable’ nature of territories and of cultural or political geography at large. It also involves challenging the notion that borders are tangible and formal, that they come with a simple cartography and can be ‘read’ unequivocally.
Seen as ‘process’, the border can be considered as being both the product of historical, social and political relations and the producer of a network of relations, representations and mental images. To analyze the discursive functioning of the border in literature and the arts (social borders included), focus will be placed on critical relations between interior and exterior, the known and the unknown, geography real and imaginary, form and formlessness, flux and fixity, absence and presence. Paradoxically, despite their ‘borderless’ appearance, aesthetic representations of margins, thresholds and separation might be read as a creative re-use of borders.

3. The border’s dualities and dynamics

The tensions inherent in the concept of the border that express both barrier and movement, separation and opposition, interdiction and transgression, the local and the planetary, incite one to rethink the border’s double function of either identification with or rejection of the other. Since the postnationalist era, where identities are being defined more in transnational or hybrid terms, the presumed ties between state borders and national identity seem to have lost their meaning.

As regards literature and the arts, the concept of border provides the opportunity to re-examine the duality inherent in human consciousness: good and evil, human and inhuman, body and mind, self and other …. The dynamics of the border also questions relations between text and para-text, a work and its material boundaries, the stage and the off-stage. Art often oversteps and transcends these oppositions, making simple maps complex.

Please send an abstract (max. 300 words) either in French or in English, and a short biographical note (max. 100 words) to both Ciaran Ross (ross@unistra.fr) and Gwen Cressman (cressman@unistra.fr) by June 15th, 2016.

(posted 4 May 2016)

International Conference on Language and Emotion
UNED, Madrid, 23-25 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 20 May 2016

The EMO-FunDETT group invites submissions of papers for its International Conference on Language and Emotion, to be held at UNED, Madrid, Spain, from 23 to 25 November 2016.
Topics might include, but are not limited to, the following:

A) LANGUAGE AND EMOTION ‘AT WORK’

The relationship and/or differences between evaluation/stance and emotion in language. Are they the same?
Emotion as contemplated in the Attitude subsystem within Appraisal Theory (Martin & White, 2005): Does this model provide an all-embracing functional approach to emotion?
The expression and/or conceptualization of emotion at the different levels of linguistic description.
The conceptualization and expression of emotion in discourse, and especially, in corporate and institutional discourse, within working environments such as those related to health or education.
The relationship between the linguistic and the paralinguistic, gestural or bodily expression of emotion.
The effect of the expression of emotion upon interpersonal relationships, especially those at the workplace.
The grammaticalization and the conventionalization of emotion in language.
Discourse functions of the expression of emotion: intensification, evidentiality, etc.
Emotions as the trigger for the creation of discourse: How emotions shape language and how language is shaped by emotions.
Multilingualism and emotion: Do we feel the same when expressing emotions in different languages?
Humor, irony and emotion in language.
(Im)politeness and the expression of emotion.
Cyberemotion: Emotion as expressed on the web (work-oriented social networks such as Linked-in, Academia, e-mails, forums, blogs, etc.).
The affective component in the teaching/learning of a foreign language.
Interdisciplinary studies on emotion: Combination of linguistic, and psychological, sociological, philosophical, etc. approaches to the phenomenon.
The relationship between the expression of emotion and emotional intelligence.

B) PERSUASION ‘AT WORK’

The relationship between emotion and persuasion.
Persuasion in online communication (e-mail, social and professional networks such as Linked-In and Academia).
Persuasion in social technology.
Gender differences in the expression of persuasive communication.
The expression of persuasion in different contexts (social media, institutions, the workplace, etc.).
Interdisciplinary studies on persuasion: Combination of linguistic, and psychological, sociological, philosophical, etc. approaches to the phenomenon.
Theoretical groundings of persuasion.
Methods and tools for evaluating persuasion.
Persuasion through language.
Rhetorical approaches to persuasion.
Persuasion across languages.
Persuasion: Linguistic markers, discursive processes and cognitive operations.
The expression of persuasion in non-verbal communication.
Persuasion and multimodality.
Humor, irony and persuasion in language.
(Im)politeness and the expression of persuasion.
Persuasion in communication studies.

The following plenary speakers have already confirmed their participation:
Monika Bednarek (University of Sydney, Australia)
Manuel Casado Velarde (Universidad de Navarra – Correspondiente de la Real Academia Española, Spain)
Javier De Santiago Guervós (Universidad de Salamanca, Spain)
Jean Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck College, London, U.K.)
Ad Foolen (Radboud Universiteit, Nijmegen, Netherlands)
Barry Pennock (Universidad de Valencia, Spain)
Francisco Yus (Universidad de Alicante, Spain)

Abstracts (not exceeding 350 words – excluding the references) should be sent as an e-mail attachment to the conference organizers : David Ferrer (davferrer@flog.uned.es) for the general section on Emotion, and Rosa Muñoz Luna (rmluna@uma.es) for the section on Persuasion) no later than 20 May 2016. Notifications of acceptance/rejection will be sent out by 30 June 2016.

Abstracts should include: 1) Title of paper; 2) Name and affiliation of each author; 3) E-mail address of each author; 4) 3-5 keywords.

Webpage: http://congresos.uned.es/w11346

The main language of the conference will be English, but contributions in Spanish are also possible. (Cross-cultural) studies about any other languages are welcome too.

(posted 12 April 2016)

What Spaces for Learning and Researching Languages in the Digital Age? 24^thRANACLES Conference
ESPE de Paris, France, 24-26 November 2016
New extended deadline for papers: 5 June 2016

With the advent of Web 2.0 technologies, major shifts linked to globalization, mobility and community participation now challenge the traditional definitions of second language (L2) learning spaces, as well as of spaces dedicated to research in the field of L2 learning and teaching. These question the concepts of environment, time and space, or even negotiation of meaning and, in turn, offer multiple prospects for both L2 learning and L2 research.

The days when learners had to go from one place to another to consult information resources seem to be over, and the very nature and roles of L2 learning spaces may need to be reconsidered in many respects, e.g., in terms of interaction, socialization, mutual confidence and cooperation… Hence the following questions: how can we define and describe the forms taken by these spaces? What are their functions and their roles? How can pedagogical design and spatial design be articulated?

The digital world also makes it possible to expand the complexity of projects, and the study of learning processes related to this higher complexity is therefore becoming part of the research landscape. Such is the case, for instance, of corpus building projects which make structured and contextualized data freely available, thus paving the way for collaborative research work.

Presentations covering the following themes are particularly encouraged.

Language centers: physical spaces, virtual spaces, or hybrid spaces?

What forms will spaces dedicated to the study of languages and cultures take in the future?
What are the functions of a physical space dedicated to the study of languages and cultures today: socialization, interaction, mutual confidence, cooperation, or some other function(s)?
The concept of presence and co-presence in language centers: Who/what should be present and why?
What structures (e.g. physical, institutional, pedagogical, online) are best suited for language centers?
How are the concepts of place, environment and space to be defined to promote high quality learning experiences and outcomes for all users?
How do language learning spaces invite us to re-examine the relationships between enaction and cognition in the digital age?

Autonomy of language centers in the institutional environment of university clusters

In an age of mergers, partnerships and creation of university clusters, what becomes of language centers? Are they absorbed by other structures? Do they combine? Are the trends the same abroad?
What are the repercussions for staff and learners? What is the effect on related research?
What feedback do we have from learning centers in terms of location, organization, impact..?

Language learning spaces and mobility

Geographic mobility and information technology: What is the impact on the study of languages and cultures?
To what extent do language learning spaces lend support to geographic mobility (European projects, telecollaboration, etc.)
How do language teaching assistants and international exchange students contribute to language learning spaces?
What impact do mobile digital devices have on the study of languages and cultures?

Spaces dedicated to assessment and certification

Do new conceptions of learning spaces entail new methods of assessment and certification?
What articulation should there be between teaching/learning and assessment/certification in language learning spaces?
What role can language learning spaces play in certification processes?
What is our perception of language and language mastery?

Formal and informal learning spaces

MOOCs and language learning: How far have we come?
What impact do social networks have on language learning?
What potential interrelationships are there between formal, non-formal and informal learning?

Personal learning spaces

Personal learning spaces: Developed by whom and for whom?
Portfolios: How have they developed in terms of use, research, and support for professional development?
What role should human agency play in establishing learning pathways?

Research spaces

Do new conceptions of learning spaces involve new spaces for research?
Is corpus-building a way of creating spaces for collaborative research?
What impact do globalization and information technology have on language variation?
Do university clusters entail forming new teams and redefining research objects?
How relevant is inter-institutional research involving multiple language learning spaces?

Submissions should be uploaded on the Conference Management System by 5 June 2016 (new extended deadline), at the following address: http://ranacles2016.sciencesconf.org

Abstracts should be approximately 2,000 characters long (not including spaces and references).

Author notification is planned for the end of June (after review by a double-blind scientific committee). Publication of papers presented at the conference is being considered for the online journal Alsic (Apprentissage des langues et systèmes d’information et de communication), according to the journal’s criteria. All papers submitted for publication undergo double-blind peer review and may be submitted in various languages, including French and English. (http://alsic.revues.org)

(posted 18 March 2016)

Discourses on Migration & Mobility
Hammamet, Tunisia, 25-26 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

1611-TAELS An international Conference organized by the Tunisian Association for English Language Studies (TAELS)
Venue: Menara Hotel***, Hammamet – Tunisia

The number of international migrants and internally displaced people has soared in the last few years because of major political and social upheavals in various parts of the world. From Africa, the Middle East, Burma to the Americas and the Caribbean, huge waves of migrants put their lives at risk trying to reach the shores of “a promised land”. This new international movement has contributed to the emergence of new discourses on migration and mobility.

The growing presence of these discourses on the radar of cultural, literary and media studies articulates the need to examine, evaluate and reassess dominant discourses in favour of thresholds and contact zones. The interdisciplinary theme this conference addresses is meant to bring under scrutiny the multi-dimensional aspect of migration and mobility in a globalised world dominated by trans-national movement and cross-border mobility. The conference will build upon the initial power and intensity of recent scholarship to further explore the politics and poetics of migration and mobility as represented in literary works as well as with regard to other discourses and academic fields.

Locating migration and mobility at the cross-roads between literary, cultural and media studies, this conference offers a vibrant research platform for scholars from different areas of study to provide critical input on the versatile patterns of migration and mobility. However, as migration and mobility could offer gateways of hope, they could possibly entail piercing traumatic experiences. Our understanding of migration and mobility trespasses the cartographic mapping (i.e. physical and geographical dimensions) to address aesthetic, conceptual and discursive representations. Seeking a connection between cultural identities, political sensitivities and comparative studies, this two-day conference prospects to lay the foundations for a constructive dialogue covering a multiplicity of migration-related issues.

The steering committee welcomes proposals related, but not limited, to the following topics:

Cross-border mobility
Types of migration
Immigration and Globalization
Migration and development
Borders and migration policies
Asylum seekers and refugee crisis
Travel narratives
Socio-cultural mobility
Media Studies and mobility
Media coverage of migratory experiences
Literary representations of diasporic experiences
Transnational identities
Migration, exile and liminality
Laws of migration
Refugees Agencies and humanitarian law

Submission
Participants are invited to send a 250-word abstract for a 20-minute presentation and a short biographical note to: submissions@taels.org no later than May 31st, 2016. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by June 15th, 2016.
We accept abstracts and papers written in English, Arabic and French.
TAELS editorial board will select a number of papers that will be published after peer-reviewing in a collective volume on the proceedings of the conference.

Participation fees
Presenters of accepted papers will be required to pay a participation fee of 150 TND ($150 for International participants) at the start of the conference. The amount will cover:

An annual membership in TAELS
Conference materials
Two copies of the conference proceedings after publication
Two-day stay at the Menara Hotel***
Breakfast, lunch, and coffee breaks on the two days of the conference

For partners accompanying participants, an additional fee of 100 TND ($100 for International speakers) will be required to cover the two-day stay at the hotel. For Tunisian M.A and PH. D students, participation fees have been reduced to 100 TND to cover all benefits listed above.

For advice and more details about transportation, please send your requests to contact@taels.org. TAELS team will be happy to assist in making your stay most comfortable.
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/189899864709817/

(posted 23 February 2016)

“Getting Medieval”: Medievalism in Contemporary Popular Culture
INU Champollion, Albi, France, 25-26 November 2016
Dedline for proposals: 31 July 2016

Today’s “pop” culture is rich with allusions to the Middle Ages, not only in literature and visual arts but also in graphic novels and comics, on the big screen and the little one, not to mention the computer screens of electronic gamers as well as amusement parks, festivals and fairs.

But how much of what is presented in a medieval context – either as actual “remakes” of old accounts or simply loosely employing a medieval setting or theme – accurately reflects the Middle Ages, and to what extent do these medieval constructs change or distort the reality of the age? When changed, to what extent is the epoch romanticised as, for example, an idealized Camelot where “the rain may never fall till after sundown?” To what extent is it vilified, making the expression “to get medieval on [somebody]” suggest a horrific vengeance? How do these constructs inform our understanding of the Middle Ages, and how important is it (if at all) to be entirely accurate? Finally, to what extent do such alterations update the texts or tales, keeping them alive and evolving, and why is it a perennial favourite, replayed year after year, decade after decade, indeed, century after century?

This conference will respond to such questions through a dialogue between various disciplines: literature, history, historical linguistics, visual arts, cinema, theatre, television, etc., in order to study the enduring popularity of medieval themes and the ways in which medieval tales and texts are transmitted, preserved, distorted, renewed and built upon in the creation of new, decidedly modern popular culture in Europe, North America and the world of the 21st century.

Please send proposals of 100-250 words for 20-minute papers (in English or French) to john.ford@univ-jfc.fr along with a brief CV before 31 July 2016.

(posted 13 June 2016)

Shifting Grounds: Literature, Culture and Spatial Phenomenologies
University of Zurich, Switzerland, 25-27 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 August 2016

This international conference responds to the recent return of phenomenological perspectives in literary and cultural criticism, and in the field of spatiality in particular. It aims to probe how a focus on sensory impressions and “the perspective of experience” (Yi-Fu Tuan) can enhance our understanding of literary and cultural spaces.

Questions of space and place have always been at the heart of phenomenological enquiry. Phenomenology played an important role in the first half of the twentieth century when philosophers like Martin Heidegger, Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Henri Bergson privileged the embodied self of perception and lived experience over the rational self of Western philosophy. Heidegger’s focus on dwelling and being-in-the-world and Merleau-Ponty’s interest in the attainment of subjectivity through embodied spatiality prepared the ground for works of literary and cultural analysis like Gaston Bachelard’s study of intimate spaces in The Poetics of Space.

Phenomenology fell out of grace with the advent of cultural semiotics, post-structuralism and postmodern theory, which critiqued phenomenology for its perceived privileging of a unified subjectivity and for its apparent bracketing of the social and ideological dimensions of space (as theorized by critics like Yuri Lotman, Henri Lefebvre, Michel Foucault, Edward Soja and Fredric Jameson). But phenomenology soon returned with a difference: already in the eighties, groundbreaking works like Michel de Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life and Paul Carter’s The Road to Botany Bay foregrounded the spatial practices of individuals precisely as a way of challenging and complicating the hierarchically produced and power-laden spaces of modernity.

More recently, phenomenological perspectives have had a remarkable revival in a number of disciplines and theoretical movements interested in the spaces of the material world. Many of these studies signal their revisionist agenda explicitly by advocating, in the words of Timothy Clark, “a kind of post-phenomenology that is sensitive to the opacity and otherness of things and that does not excessively posit nature as continuous, homogeneous, predictable and assimilable.” In the area of spatial theory, this includes archaeology (notably Christopher Tilley’s work on the materiality of stone), geography (e.g. John Wylie’s work on the absences and distances of landscape experience), anthropology (e.g. Tim Ingold’s work on dwelling, walking, knots and lines) and ecocriticism (e.g. Timothy Morton’s critique of the concept of nature).

In the spirit of this interdisciplinary revival of phenomenological perspectives, we invite contributions from scholars working in a range of disciplines who wish to rethink the role of phenomenology for our understanding of the tensions between individual experience and the material, cultural and social spaces we live in and interact with. While the conference has a strong focus on literary and cultural production, we wish to foster a dialogue between academics interested in the spaces of literature and other art forms, and scholars from disciplines that have a direct interest in the sensory, embodied and material dimensions of space.

Keynote speakers

Professor Dr. Paul Carter (Melbourne)
Professor Dr. John Wylie (Exeter)
Tba.

Call for papers

In accordance with the general aims of the conference, we invite submissions for 20-minute presentations that may relate to (but need not be limited to) the following areas:

Phenomenologies of space
Space and embodied experience
Theories of spatiality
Materialities of spatial experience
Geopoetics and the aesthetics of the physical world
Spatiality in eco-phenomenology and environmental criticism
Dwelling and inhabited space
Liminal spaces, border zones and border crossings
Extreme spaces: polar spaces, deserts, oceanic depths etc.
Movement and mobility: phenomenologies of walking, driving, train travel etc.
Phenomenologies of specific spaces (e.g. oceans, mountains, forests, islands, icescapes etc.)
Fuzzy, disorienting and incomprehensible spaces: mazes, knots, fractals, black holes, infinite spaces etc.
Disintegrating and opaque spaces
Spatiality and the cultural imaginary
Cartography and spatial experience
Space, memory and identity
Spatial histories and spatial politics
Social and affective spaces
The spaces of language
Landscape and aesthetics

Download as pdf: Spatial_Phenomenologies (PDF, 821 KB)

The conference fee is 110.- Swiss Francs.

Submission of abstracts: Please send an abstract of 200-300 words and a short biographical note (no more than 100 words) to Johannes Riquet (johannes.riquet@es.uzh.ch) in a single file (please send both a PDF and a Word version).
Deadline for proposals: 31 August 2016
Submitters will be notified of acceptance or rejection by 7 September 2016.

(posted 2 June 2016)

Portrait and Portraying
University of Wroclaw, Poland, 29 November 2016
Deadline for proposals: 31 August 2016

Department of English Studies
Research Center for 19th-21st Century Literature

This workshop aims to engage with contemporary academic debate relating to the theme of portraying, and will explore how pratices of portraying engage revelation and staging, assertion and invention. We invite refletion on changing modes of production, reception, aesthetic and cultural conditioning of portraying practices. They are unavoidably comparative.

Possible questions for consideration:

changing boundaries and displays of portraiture
contemporary principles and functions of portraiture
the aesthetics of literary portraiture
portrait as an art object
constructing, performing and intensifying the self through portraiture
self-portrait as a site of the autobiographical
the visual portrait after the end of the sight
portraiture critique and emancipation
portraiture and gender

Possible focuses may incluse but are not limited to:

identity
faciality
the living and the dead
metamorphosis
(re)creations
disguise
duplicity, serialization, and multiplication

Contact: dr hab. Teresa Bruś
tbrus@poczta.onet.pl
tel. +48 605 380 332

Download the workshop poster.

(posted 31 May 2016)

The Body and Translation, the Body in Translation: translation and conference interpreting Université Toulouse – Jean Jaurès, France, 3-4 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

Arts of Healing: Cultural Narratives of Trauma Ploieşti, Romania, 3-5 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 15 July 2016

Revisiting the North-South Divide: the Changing Face of the North Nancy, France, 4-5 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 1 March 2016

Shaping Ends: Aspects of Apocalypse Corpus Christi College, Oxford, UK, 5 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

Science Fiction and Fantasy International Conference School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, Portugal, 16-18 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

Scottish women and the constitution of the idea of Scotland: SFEEc conference Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), France, 16-18 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 15 June 2016

“They fell and taught others how to grieve”. War in Poetry: Breaking into family and everyday life Université de Poitiers, France, 17 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 20 July 2016

Will Forever Young University of Milan, 17-18 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 15 April 2016

Tense, Aspect, Modality – Evidentiality: Comparative, Cognitive, Theoretical and Applied Perspectives University of Paris Diderot, France, 17-18 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 10 May 2016

International Conference ICT for Language Learning 9th edition Florence, Italy, 17-18 November 2016 New extended deadline for proposals: 5 September 2016

Expanding the lexicon – Linguistic Innovation, Morphological Productivity, and the Role of Discourse-Related Factors University of Trier, Germany, 17-18 November 2016 Deadline for the submission of abstracts: 10 July 2016

Transmediating Culture(s)? Szczecin University, Department of English, Szczecin, Poland, 17-19 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 14 March 2016

Understanding Wellbeing: Representations, Discourse and Policy Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris, France, 18-19 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 10 July 2016

Conflict, Power and their Representations Université du Maine, Le Mans, France, 18-19 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 30 April 2016

Migrations: 3rd Croatian National Conference of English Studies University of Zadar, Croatia, 18-19 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 1st July 2016

Borders and areas of contact in Anglophone cultures, literatures, and art Université de Strasbourg, France, 18-19 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 15 June 2016

International Conference on Language and Emotion UNED, Madrid, 23-25 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 20 May 2016

What Spaces for Learning and Researching Languages in the Digital Age? 24th RANACLES Conference ESPE de Paris, France, 24-26 November 2016 New extended deadline for papers: 5 June 2016

Discourses on Migration & Mobility Hammamet, Tunisia, 25-26 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 May 2016

“Getting Medieval”: Medievalism in Contemporary Popular Culture INU Champollion, Albi, France, 25-26 November 2016 Dedline for proposals: 31 July 2016

Shifting Grounds: Literature, Culture and Spatial Phenomenologies University of Zurich, Switzerland, 25-27 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 August 2016

Portrait and Portraying University of Wroclaw, Poland, 29 November 2016 Deadline for proposals: 31 August 2016