CFP: Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative Language

[Gill Philip]

with apologies for cross-posting

CALL FOR PAPERS

"METAPHOR AND AUSTERITY"
Fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative
Language (held in conjunction with Corpus Linguistics 2013)
Monday 22nd July 2013
Lancaster University, UK


METAPHOR AND AUSTERITY
The West is settling into a new age of austerity: the
“NICE”(‘non-inflationary consistent expansion’, Kitson et al. 2011) economy
has turned “VILE” (‘volatile inflation, little expansion’, ibid.), and the
economic and social fall-out is now becoming visible. Unemployment,
redundancy, inflation, recession, insecurity, and poverty all loom, causing
governments, businesses and individuals to re-evaluate their priorities.
A changing world changes attitudes, and the earliest manifestations of such
change can often be found in figurative language. Political rhetoric
attempts to sweeten the bitter pill that nations have no choice but to
swallow; all are invited to share the pain, make sacrifices for the common
good, and weather the storm. But more sinister undertones can also be
perceived. In times of social and financial dire straits, scapegoats are
sought and mercilessly pursued in the press. The elderly, unemployed, and
disabled are under fire for “sponging off the state”; and as jobs become
scarcer and the tax bill rises, migrant populations and asylum seekers are
viewed with increasing suspicion and resentment. Calls for a “big society”
fall on deaf ears. Society, it seems, is shrinking as self-preservation
takes hold.
This fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to
Figurative Language will consist of a day-long colloquium including oral
presentations (20 + 10 minutes), a poster session, plus a round-table
discussion chaired by members of the organizing committee. It is the
organizers’ intention to showcase original research into the figurative
language associated with Austerity in its many guises and in various
spheres of life, and to stimulate interdisciplinary debate between
established and early-career researchers who are investigating Austerity in
corpus data. Proposals are therefore welcome on any aspect of figurative
language relevant to the central theme of Austerity, including, but not
limited to, the economy, work and unemployment, immigration and asylum
seeking, social inclusion and exclusion. Given the dominance of English in
the literature on metaphor, research dealing with other languages will be
particularly welcome, whether contrastive or otherwise.

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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Extended abstracts for 20 minute talks (1500-2000 words, excluding
references) and for posters (1000-1250 words, excluding references) should
be sent in an email attachment to Gill Philip <gill.philip AT unimc.it> by
31 January 2013. Following notification of acceptance, participants will be
invited to resubmit their abstracts for inclusion in the peer-reviewed
workshop proceedings which will be published concurrently with the workshop.


IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 January 2013
Notification of acceptance: 5 March 2013
Deadline for revised abstracts: 14 May 2013
Workshop: 22 July 2013


References
M. Kitson, R. Martin & P. Tyler. 2011. The geographies of austerity.
Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 4. 289–302.


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Dr. Gill Philip
Università degli Studi di Macerata
Dipartimento di Scienze della Formazione, dei Beni Culturali, e del Turismo
Piazzale L. Bertelli
Contrada Vallebona
62100 Macerata
Italy