[Linganth] FEL Call for Abstracts: Language colonization and endangerment - Hyderabad 2-5 Dec. 2016

Nicholas Ostler nicholas at ostler.net
Mon May 23 08:48:06 UTC 2016


CALL FOR ABSTRACTS:
Language colonization and endangerment: long-term effects, echoes and reactions

The XX FEL conference aims to examine language endangerment during the
colonial era, and the impact of colonization on the subsequent efforts
of the independent nations and communities to revitalize  their
language heritage. The conference will look at continuity and change
in approaches to language use.

This is wide field. European domination, all over the world, is too
recent to be forgotten. But colonial periods extended over different
times in different continents: European colonialism had its peak
earlier, for example, in the Americas than in Asia or Africa. But
colonialism with linguistic consequences occurred also in quite
different eras: e.g. in western Europe under Roman domination, North
Africa under the Arabs, South-east Asia under Indians and then the
Chinese (1st millennium AD).

More specifically the conference will explore the following issues,
asking for contributions on specific languages or territories:

In the colonial period, how was the use of local traditional
languages, and indeed other languages of wider communication,
restricted? (Complex interrelations grew up within large empires and
trade networks, especially in South-east Asia, India, east Africa and
the Americas.) Smaller language communities may have been hard pressed
to survive in larger political administrations.

The differing status of languages within a territory may also have
been a feature of colonial rule and later political dispensations,
since often post-colonial policy begins with a crisis in the choice of
which languages to support. Some languages may have had a purely oral
existence; but this may have been tacitly endorsed by institutions, or
been actively discouraged.

What means were used to channel communication and expression into
other languages? We shall consider action on place-names, as well as
the roles appointed for languages in the economy, military spheres,
public-health policy, education and government, and other features of
social life such as cultural activities.

Subsequently, how have language planning and liberation struggles made
a  difference - positive or negative - to the use and prospects of
indigenous languages? Have language and/or education rights, for
example, been a useful tool of policy? Has technology - from the
introduction of literacy though to mobile phones - played a
significant role in changes? Are current norms of language
documentation all too reminiscent of colonial attitudes to smaller
communities?

*******

Submission Details

Single page abstracts of up to 500 words should be submitted by 19th June 2016.

Abstracts received after this deadline will not be accepted.

Abstracts are to be submitted for consideration in English (except by
arrangement with the Chairman).

If you are using special (language) fonts in your abstract submission,
please make sure that they are Unicode or encoded in your pdf.

Format of presentation
Presentations will be twenty minutes, with ten minutes for discussion
and questions and answers. Keynote lectures (by invitation only) will
be forty-five minutes each.

In addition to the abstract, on a separate page, please include the
following information:

NAME(S): Names of the author(s)

TITLE: Title of the paper

INSTITUTION: Institutional affiliation, if any

E-MAIL: E-mail address of first author, if any

ADDRESS: Postal address of the first author

TEL: Telephone number of the first author, if any

For submission of abstracts, either of two methods is possible, as below:


1. E-Mail:

The subject line of the e-mail should state:
FEL Abstract: <last name of the first author> : <title of paper>

The email should be sent to the following addresses:
panchanan_mohanty at yahoo.com
nicholas at ostler.net


2. Post:

In case you are not able to submit your abstract via e-mail, please
send your abstract and details on paper to the following address (to
arrive by 19th June 2016):

FEL XX Conference Administration

Foundation for Endangered Languages
129 High Street
Hungerford
RG17 0DL
United Kingdom

The name of the first author will be used in all correspondence.
Submitters will be informed about their abstracts by 10th July 2016.
Those whose abstracts are accepted will be required to submit their
full papers for publication in the Proceedings by 11th September 2016,
together with their registration fee (to be announced soon).

Important Dates

·       Abstract arrival deadline: 19th June 2016.

·       Notification of acceptance of paper: 10th July 2016.

·       In case of acceptance, the full paper will be due by 11th
September 2016. It is a condition of speaking at the conference that
authors will submit a hard copy of their paper by this deadline.
(Further details on the format of text will be specified to the
authors.)

·       Conference dates: December 2-5, 2016,
of which the last day will feature an excursion of interest to the
conference theme, Language colonization and its effects.

Requests for further information about the conference should be
directed to the Conference Chair, Panchanan Mohanty,
<panchanan_mohanty at yahoo.com>  or the FEL Chair<nicholas at ostler.net>

Periodic updates will be found via the FEL page
http://www.ogmios.org/conferences/

About the FEL XX Host City of Hyderabad, India

The 2016 FEL Conference will be held in Hyderabad, capital of India’s
new state of Telangana, and also currently of Andhra Pradesh. Centre
for Endangered Languages & Mother Tongue Studies, University of
Hyderabad will host it in collaboration with some other leading Indian
universities and institutions.

Hyderabad was a princely state before and during the British raj, and
is home to considerable diversity. Telugu and Urdu are now both
official languages of Hyderabad, and most Hyderabadis are bilingual.
The Telugu spoken in Hyderabad is called Telangana Telugu, and the
Urdu is called Dakhini “southern”. Significant minorities speak other
languages.

The University of Hyderabad itself hosts a Centre for Endangered
languages & Mother Tongue Studies, under Prof Mohanty, the first
centre of its kind in an educational institution in India. University
of Hyderabad received the BEST UNIVERSITY award from the President of
India in 2015. Accommodation for the conference will be provided in
the University Guest House.

-- Nicholas Ostler nicholas at ostler.net +44 (0)1488-208563, 
(0)7720-889319 Chairman: Foundation for Endangered Languages www.ogmios.org

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