Self as a Sign conference

[Maxim Stamenov]

           First Announcement and Call for Papers

                  International Conference

                       SELF AS A SIGN
Aspects of self-representation, self-consciousness and self-
                       interpretation

         September 19-21, 1996, Varna, Bulgaria

Organized by: The New Bulgarian University, Sofia, BULGARIA

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this conference will be to consider
the applicability of the notion of sign to the structure and
functions of the self. Contributions are invited from the
disciplines of linguistics, semiotics, cognitive psychology,
philosophy of language and mind and the adjacent disciplines
and areas of research. The topics under discussion include
(but are not limited to): the `meaning' and `form' of the
self; the language-specific and language-nonspecific aspects
of subjecthood and representability to oneself of the self;
the ontogenetic `roots' of the self; the specificity of the
experience of the self; the relationships between self-image
and body-schema; the self- and other-image in developmental
perspective; multiple selves and multiple presentations in
the social context and in pathology; syntax/semantics of the
presentation of the subject in everyday life and in
everyday-sentence perspective; the discursive basis of the
self, etc.

WORKSHOP: The Cognitive Turn in Semiotics
Coordinator:
Dr. Maxim STAMENOV, Institute of the Bulgarian Language
Shipchenski Prokhod St. 52, bl. 17, 1113 Sofia, BULGARIA;
maxstam at bgearn.bitnet.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the workshop will be to discuss the
applicability of the concept of sign with its structure of
signifier/signified to cognitive structures at different
levels of their formation and functioning. Contributions are
invited from the disciplines of semiotics, cognitive
psychology, linguistics, philosophy of language and mind.
While during the sessions of conference the focus will be on
the signs of subjectivity, here the participants will be
supposed to face the sign as an object along the following
lines (among others): the relationships between image and
sign, concept and sign, symptom and sign; the specificity of
signifying structures in cognition, emotion, perception, and
imagination; the relationships between signs and names,
sentences, utterances, discourses, texts, etc.; the concept
of sign in symbolic and subsymbolic (connectionist) theories
of mind; the emergent signs -- the signifier/signified
relationship in the top-down and bottom-up hierarchies of
information processing in mind and brain functioning, etc.

Further proposals for workshops are welcome.

SITE
The conference site is The International House of
Journalists which is located 25 km. from Varna international
airport near the internationally known resort "Golden
Sands". It is possible to reach this location by local
public transportation (bus 409) as well as by taxi from the
airport or from the town of Varna central railway station.
Further more detailed information about the ways of access
will be given in the Second and Third Announcements.

ACCOMMODATION
The cost for a single room per night plus the board for the
corresponding day is US$29.00 at the International House of
Journalists plus a resort tax of US$4.00 per day. The House
is nicely located in a privately owned small park and
vineyard at the seaside.

CONFERENCE FEE
The regular fee is US$35.00. The fee for students is
US$20.OO. The fee is valid BOTH for the conference and the
school (cf. below). It should be paid at the registration
desk after arrival. The conference and school fee is waived
for the participants from the countries of Eastern and
Central Europe.

DEADLINES AND INSTRUCTIONS FOR SUBMISSION
The deadline for applications for both the school and the
conference is June 01, 1996. It is acceptable to submit your
proposal for a paper for the conference (with its title and
an abstract of approx. 200-250 words) by e-mail, but the
application will be considered complete after we receive
your proposal (in three hard copies in a camera ready form
by air mail) according to the following format: title; name;
affiliation; postal address; e-mail address; abstract of
approx. 200 words (preferably on a laser printer).
     Each participant will be given 20 min. for presentation
of her/his paper and 10 min. for discussion. The future
participants will be notified about the acceptance of their
papers by the Programme Committee in two weeks after their
application reached us by e-mail. The official notification
of acceptance by air mail may reach them a week later. We
use this scheme in order to give more time for those who
intend to attend to arrange the details of their trip.

LANGUAGES
Official languages of the meeting will be Bulgarian and
English (invited papers and lectures will be given in
English; papers will be given predominantly in English).
                    **********

            A RELATED EVENT OF INTEREST
Second Early Fall School of Semiotics, September 17-18,
            1996, Varna (the same site).

              THE WAR WE LIVE(D) BY
    Signs of Fear, Catastrophism and Loaded Silence

OBJECTIVE: The multi-ethnic fabric of newly emerged complex
societies in post-war Balkans irradiates aggressive
ideologies of intolerance and distrust that exacerbated the
feelings of catastrophism and predestiny. Those feelings
faded away around the hot-war spots in places like Albania,
Rumania, and Bulgaria as signs of `loaded silence'.
     The `image of difference' and `otherness' were
constructed and communicated through derogatory metaphors,
implicit biases and stereotypes. How to transfer the signs
of loaded silence into the potential silence of creative
work? Is there are `moonlighting' employment of the metaphor
of `loaded silence' in literature, philosophy and visual
arts? A wide range of approaches including semiotics,
pragmatism, psychology, sociology, feminism, ethnology,
cultural studies, media studies, etc., should combine their
efforts to model a strategy for implementing the pieces of
the new `alternative' discourses.
                       *********

SCHEDULE:
Deadline for applications: June 01, 1996;
Arrival at the site of the events: September 16, 1996;
Working time of the school: September 17-18, 1996;
Working time of the conference: September 19-21, 1996;
Departure: September 22, 1996.
                       *********
All requests for information and further orientation for the
CONFERENCE should be addressed to:

Maxim Stamenov, Institute of the Bulgarian Language,
Shipchenski Prokhod St. 52, bl. 17, 1113 Sofia, BULGARIA
Tel./fax (359-2) 732-217; E-mail: maxstam at bgearn.bitnet
                       *********
All requests for information and orientation for the SCHOOL
should be addressed to:

The New Bulgarian University, Department of Anthropology -
EFSS, Ljulin Planina St. 2, 1606 Sofia, BULGARIA
Fax: (359-2) 540-802.