A conference entitled "Mountains in the English-Speaking World: Between Image and Language. Landscapes Described and Torn" will be held at the University of Toulouse-Le Mirail, 4 -7 October, 2007.
You will find more information on the  site of the CAS: http://w3.univ-tlse2.fr/cas/index10.html.
Travel and hotel expenses are the sole responsibility of participants. Abstracts should be sent before 20 February 2007.

(posted 22 Nov '06)

Winifred Holtby is remembered for her posthumously published novel, South Riding (1936) and for her friendship with the writer Vera Brittain. She wrote poetry and drama, as well other novels and numerous short stories, before her death in 1935 at the age of thirty-six. Holtby was a Director of the periodical, Time and Tide, the author of the first critical study of Virginia Woolf (1932), and of Women in a Changing Civilisation (1934).
Abstracts for papers (not longer than 250 words) are invited on any aspect of Holtby's life and work and should be sent in the form of an e-mail attachment to both of the convenors, Professor Marion Shaw <m.shaw@lboro.ac.uk>  and Dr Mary Joannou <m.joannou@anglia.ac.uk>,  before 1 February, 2007. Papers at the colloquium will be of 20 minutes duration. The convenors will be happy to enter into e-mail correspondence with or talk informally to anyone who may be considering submitting a proposal. We are particularly interested in aspects of Holtby's life and work on which little has been written, such as her attitudes to consumer culture, her political activities, including her commitment to socialism and opposition to fascism, and her interest in South Africa.
Professor Shaw is the author of The Clear Stream: a Life of Winifred Holtby (Virago, 1999) and is Holtby's literary executor.

(posted 19 Nov '06)

The problematic of text value is often raised from the angle of aesthetics. This is certainly convenient to avoid both the logical principle of compositionality and the communication model. However, if one addresses the question of the value of all kinds of texts, aesthetics falls wide of the mark. We propose to look into the question of textual value from different points of view: not only aesthetic but also affective and cognitive. Indeed, where aesthetics suggests placing literary texts in a special category according to the debatable criterion of literarity, pragmatics ascribes quite a different value to texts: so, is it its pragmatic action which gives the text its value? Is it what the text does to me? Is it its role upon the extra-linguistic world and the action that follows. Reading amounting to doing things, is textual value an extrinsic quality?
Or is it an intrinsic quality? Does a text’s value come from internal criteria such as generic affiliation and consequently its peculiar way to refer? In which case, does this power to refer induce an explicative value or a heuristic value? Leaving aside the realms of the real (reference), of truth and good (politics, religion) and of beauty (aesthetics), can we claim that the cognitive is the sphere of right, in the sense that a text abides by generic criteria?
Moreover, if economic value can be assessed by social utility, can it be transposed in semiotics in terms of discursive utility? What is the added value of texts? Is it linked to their interpretation? According to Saussure, word value has nothing to do with signification: does the same apply to textual value? What is the role of the context in the construction of value?
Abstracts to be  sent to <f.canon-roger@wanadoo.fr> (linguistics and semantics) or <christine.chollier@univ-reims.fr> (literature). Notification will be given by 15 March 2007.
Registration between 15 March and 15 May 2007 with the Conference secretary <patricia.oudinet@univ-reims.fr> . The registration fee is € 110 and includes lunch onThursday and Friday, coffee and tea breaks.

(posted 19 Oct '06)

The 5th LAPASEC symposium will try to explore several issues. To begin with, the question whether the notion of taste really became more relativist in the latter part of the 18th century. A particular focus will be on the sense of sight in the context of discussing taste – an issue concerning aesthetics, philosophy, art history, literature and literary criticism. Given the fact that much of that discussion (Shaftesbury, Dubos, Hutcheson, Montesquieu, Hogarth, Diderot, Reynolds, Gerard, Kant, etc.) often implicitly outlines a defence of the attitudes (or in Bourdieu’s terms, the habitat) of a self-defined, wealthy, educated, male, leisured, and exclusive elite, we intend to explore the politics of taste as propagated, for example, in the Academia del buon gusto (Palermo 1718), the English Society of Dilettanti (1732) and the Parisian salons. Our intention is to unite in our "Landau salon" scholars from the fields concerned here and from different countries. Papers are invited on the problematics of taste as sketched before, preferably with a focus on sight. Subsequent symposia will be dedicated to the exploration of taste in the contexts of hearing and smelling (2008) and touching and tasting (2009). A selection of papers will be published in the LAPASEC series in a volume of proceedings in 2008 by Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier.
Further information: http://www.uni-landau.de/anglistik/LAPASEC/index.htm
Please send a title and abstract (100 words) of your proposed paper to Peter Wagner: <wahpe@t-online.de> AND to Frédéric Ogée: <frederic.ogee@univ-paris-diderot.fr>. Not later than 10 April 2007

(posted 21 Mar '07)

Gender exhibits different features in French and in English. In French gender is binary, often deemed arbitrary and heavily coded in the sentence, whereas in English it is ternary and far more discreet. The differences between English and French give rise to problems well-known to practising translators, both in university translation with pedagogical aims, and literary or pragmatic professional translation. Possessive adjectives in English identify the masculine, feminine, or neuter possessor, whereas French indicates the grammatical gender of the object possessed, which produces text-book cases and minefields for beginners in translation as does the translation of the gender of animals and inanimates. The abundance of gender indications in French sometimes forces translators to use the masculine or the feminine, and risk over-clarification, where they would prefer to maintain the ambiguity of the English.
Moreover, the linguistic differences linked to gender require manipulations that underline what is at stake politically. This is the case for the masculine-feminine difference in the passage from one language to the other, or when French nouns are feminised. How precise the translator chooses to be, and the subsequent to-ing and fro-ing from the politically correct to sexism (as for example when French uses the masculine as a non-marked form) show the extent to which the role of the translator is essential in this question of grammatical gender. Beyond the problems of pure denotation, there loom the questions of connotation and the way languages represent a vision of the world.
The conference is jointly organized by TRACT (Paris 3) et GERB (Bordeaux 3). Suggestions for papers (a half-page summary in English or French) plus a short CV should be sent, by 30 April 2007 to:
Christine Raguet <c.raguet@univ-paris3.fr> and Pascale Sardin <pascale.sardin@u-bordeaux3.fr>
After acceptance by the editorial committee the talks will be published in Palimpsestes 21.

(posted 29 Jan '07)

Supported by the Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies Bangor-Aberystwyth & the Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, Trinity College Dublin. This international research network was established in 2006 and it brings together scholars, students and independent researchers who are focusing upon aspects of warfare and their interests range chronologically from the Middle Ages until the end of the seventeenth century. The network is strongly interdisciplinary in composition and welcomes new members with an interest in researching the implications of cultural violence and diffusing their findings in an academic forum.
The network is designed to relay any potentially relevant information concerning forthcoming conferences, publications, funding opportunities etc. to its members and will be reunited in one place for the first time for its inaugural conference at the University of Wales Conference Centre, Gregynog Hall in mid-Wales, on October 13-15 October 2007.
The conference welcomes paper proposals from early modernists and medievalists and the areas below are of particular (but not exclusive) interest in this first meeting of the group: The Soldier Writer; Literatures of War; Military Conflict and Court Culture; War and the writing of Nation; Scholarship and the study of Warfare; Colonialism and Conquest
The submission deadline for papers is Friday June 15th. All enquiries concerning this event and the network should be directed to Josh Bradbury, the network administrator, at <imems@bangor.ac.uk>.

(posted 25 May '07 - updated 18 Jun '07)

AASE (the Armenian Association for the Study of English) and Yerevan State University English Philology Department (Armenia, Yerevan) welcome presentation requests for participation in the second AASE International Conference “Language and Literature in the Contemporary Paradigm of Scientific Knowledge”. Working languages: English, Russian, Armenian.
The plenary and sub-plenary lectures and panel sessions may cover issues on contemporary approaches to traditional linguistic and literary problems, as well as questions of interdisciplinary character. The focus will be on the following areas of investigation: Theory of Language: Past and Present; Cognitive Philology; Discourse Analysis; Imageology-Language-Literature;  Mass Communication; Language in a Multicultural Context; Applied Linguistics; Interdisciplinary Studies.
The official deadline for submission of abstracts (300 words) is January 31, 2007. The timing for plenary and sub plenary lectures is 45–60 minutes. The panel session papers should be presented orally within 10-15 minutes to encourage further discussion. Proposals should be mailed directly to <romano@xter.net >for approval by the Academic Programme Committee which will also readily accept your offer to convene a session. Further details of the conference can be found at http://www.synergy.ysu.am
 The following information is encouraged to be submitted: Name, title, area of interest, contact address.  Abstracts of the presentation: 300 words, Font: Times New Roman, Times Armenian, Russian Times, Line Spacing: 1.5, Font size 12.
Submissions will only be published in the conference programme if the author registers and confirms the attendance by October 1, 2007.
The full text of the best papers will be published after the Conference.
The Conference will enable you to enjoy the following: Opening Ceremony; Interesting Presentations; Exhibition and Book Sale; Social programme (receptions, trips, museums, concerts).
Foreign delegates will be able to book accommodation at Yerevan State University Hotel. The special rates for the delegates are: single - $35 per night, double - $50 per night, breakfast included. If indicated, the Organizing Committee will make reservations in due time. The requests should be mailed to <romano@xter.net>.
The fee charged for the Conference: $70. Transfers should be made to the Armenian Association for the Study of English bank account number (16300) 8109072 at “Armeconombank”. Delegates may apply to the Organizing Committee for a reduced conference fee or a fee-waiver at the time of registration.

(posted 29 May '06 - updated 27 Dec '06))

The theme of the conference goes back to the structural concept of the language system developed by the Prague School. The papers are expected: 1) to reassess the theoretical work of Prague structuralists (especially Bohumil Trnka and René Wellek) and its relevance for contemporary research, and; 2) to discuss transformations of structuralist approaches in recent and contemporary theories of structures and systems, characterized by the movement away from the models of homogeneous, hierarchized and centralized structures to concepts of structurality based on dehierarchized assemblages, transversal relations and dynamic semantic situations (Einstein, Dewey, Bateson, Merleau-Ponty, Derrida, Deleuze, etc.).
The conference will have two sections and will conclude with the first annual Prague colloquium on “Frontiers of Theory: Technicity, Art and the New Media” (Saturday, 20 October – Sunday, 21 October 2007):
Section 1: Theories of Structure and Their Transformations
Suggested Focus Areas: 1) Prague Structuralism in relation to other structuralist and formalist trends (Saussure, Peirce, New Criticism, cultural semiotics, etc.); 2) The legacy of the Prague School and later theories of structures and systems; 3) Structuralist theories and methodologies in sciences and humanities
Section 2: Prague Structuralism and Language System
Suggested Focus Areas: &) The structural concept of the language system in contemporary descriptions of English and its historical development; 2) Interfacial aspects of the highest language level
Colloquium: Frontiers of Theory: Technicity, Art and the New Media
Suggested Focus Areas: 1) Contemporary theories of technicity in relation to semiotics, structuralism, cybernetics and deconstruction. How does "technicity" make possible a new understanding of language systems in the technosciences and the life sciences? 2) Technicity and contemporary culture, media and aesthetics (new media, the internet, digitalisation, real-time communication and transmission).

Questions concerning the colloquium on “Frontiers of Theory: Technicity, Art and the New Media” (Saturday, 20 October – Sunday, 21 October, 2007) should be addressed to <Louis Armand info@litterariapragensia.com>.

Papers will be selected by the conference committee and the speakers will be notified by 30 April 2007 and mailed a registration form and further information.

(posted 24 Jan '07, updated 26 Feb '07)

The Association for Canadian Studies in Serbia and Montenegro (YACS), the Canadian Embassy in Belgrade and the Faculty of Philology in Belgrade are pleased to announce the 3rd International Conference hosted by YACS. Papers to be presented in either English or French are warmly invited from all disciplines, as well as from multidisciplinary perspectives. Within the general context of culture and ideology, the conference would like to achieve a clearer picture of Canadian views on some significant issues. Some themes are suggested below but they are not restrictive: Canadian democracy: Canada vs. America, Francophone vs. Anglophone Canada, First nations issues, Globalisation and geopolitics, Biotechnologies and identity issues, Class, race, gender, age, minority differences, Ideology of democracy in education, arts, sports, Urban culture / Regional culture, Children in society and literature, General concepts of culture and ideology defined by Canadian thinkers. Contributions may come from the fields of sociology, history, literature, psychology, linguistics, geography, arts, architecture, social sciences etc. as exercised in post-colonial, women’s and children’s writing. Please send a 200-word abstract, alongside with your affiliation and a short CV to Vesna Lopičić: <lovevuk@bankerinter.net>

(posted 6 Apr '07)

(posted 3 Mar '07)

The theme of the conference is designed to highlight the diversity of city and urban imagery in British as well as Irish poetry, drama and film. The conference will survey the main aspects of the continuous interest in the city as one of the most significant elements of literary, social and economic history of European literature, culture and art. The city can therefore be presented as an important theme or motif in a literary work, film or performance; it can, however, also be approached as a component, latent or mute, in a work of predominantly rural or pastoral character. The organizers seek contributions which examine the city and its relation with the country, or which analyze traditional forms of literary as well as artistic rendering of urban imagery, and finally which focus on technologized, media-oriented or digital modes of urban experience in early modern, modern and contemporary literature. We also invite papers concerning the beginnings of the English and European city life, that are commonly associated with the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. All proposals focusing either on literary, social or philosophical aspects of the city in dramatic literature, poetry, media and visual arts are warmly welcome. 
The invited plenary speakers are Prof. Richard Burt (University of Florida), Prof. Andrzej Dabrówka (Polish Academy of Science), Prof. Marta Gibinska (Jagiellonian University), Prof. Malgorzata Grzegorzewska (Warsaw University), Prof. Jerzy Limon (Gdansk University), Prof. Mary Luckhurst (University of York).
Proposals for papers (300 words) can be made to Agnieszka Rasmus <rasmusag@yahoo.co.uk>  before 30 June 2007.
Conference fee: 250 PLN + 22% VAT (= 100 euro).

(posted 18 Apr '07)