27.2798, Support: Ling & Literature; Philosophy of Language; Semantics / Netherlands

Fri Jul 1 14:53:40 UTC 2016

LINGUIST List: Vol-27-2798. Fri Jul 01 2016. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 27.2798, Support: Ling & Literature; Philosophy of Language; Semantics / Netherlands

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Date: Fri, 01 Jul 2016 10:53:33
From: Emar Maier [emar.maier at gmail.com]
Subject: Ling & Literature; Philosophy of Language; Semantics, PhD, University of Groningen, Netherlands

 Institution/Organization: University of Groningen 
Department: Linguistics/Philosophy 
Web Address: https://sites.google.com/site/emarmaier/vidi 

Level: PhD 

Duties: Research

Specialty Areas: Ling & Literature; Philosophy of Language; Semantics 

Description:

Fully funded PhD position in Linguistics/Philosophy (1.0fte)

The Faculties of Philosophy and Arts of the University of Groningen are
looking for a PhD student in the NWO-funded research project ''The Language of
Fiction and Imagination'' led by Dr. Emar Maier.

Project Description

Fiction is interpreted differently from non-fiction. In the context of a
fiction, the usual expectations of truth and reference are out the window. We
all know that Frodo never existed, yet we can interpret stories about him and
even be emotionally involved with this non-existent character. Since
traditional formal semantics has fundamental difficulties with things like
non-referring names and inconsistent plots, literary scholars have turned to
cognitive linguistics. The current project will build a bridge between
cognitive and formal semantics, exploiting existing semantic frameworks (e.g.
Discourse Representation Theory, Mental Spaces), and philosophy (e.g. Mental
Files, pretense theories of fiction), in order to arrive at a formally
explicit account of the interpretation of fiction.

The project has three parts: (A) formally modelling mental states, including
imagination and belief (PhD1); (B) modelling fiction as imagination updates
(PI); and (C) analyzing linguistic fiction markers (PhD2). The position
advertised is for subproject C. It is centered on the linguistic questions
raised by the project as a whole: How does a reader even know that a given
text is fiction? Are there linguistic clues an author can leave to mark a text
as fiction? Putative examples of such ''fiction markers'' include narrative
subject--verb inversion (in Dutch: ''Komt een skelet bij de dokter...''), past
tense marking in children's pretend play (''You were the father and I was the
baby''), the historical present, and free indirect discourse. The goal is to
give a formal semantic analysis of these and other constructions, building on
the semantic machinery for fiction interpretation developed in the other
subprojects, and engaging with existing work in both formal/cognitive
linguistics and literary studies/narratology.

Qualifications

Our ideal candidate has

- A strong background in formal semantics (through training in theoretical
linguistics, logic, and/or philosophy of language), and a clear interest in
literature/narratology;
- Excellent English and academic writing/presentation skills;
- An MA or MSc degree in a field relevant to the project (e.g. linguistics,
philosophy, literary studies, A.I.);

Organisation

The PhD position is jointly hosted by two departments, The Department of
Theoretical Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Center for
Language and Communication in the Faculty of Arts. The successful applicant
will be working under direct supervision of dr. Emar Maier with co-supervision
of promotores prof. dr. Petra Hendriks and prof. dr. Jan-Willem Romeijn.

Conditions of employment

The University of Groningen offers a salary of €2,174,- (salary scale PhD
students Dutch Universities) gross per month in the first year, up to a
maximum of € 2,779,- gross per month in the final year, based on a fulltime
position. The position requires residence in Groningen.

The preferred starting date is 1 January 2017, or earlier.

Application

You may apply for this position until Tuesday 20 September (23:59 local Dutch
time) by means of the application form at the university vacancies website.
For more information, see also the project website:
https://sites.google.com/site/emarmaier/vidi

Application Deadline: 20-Sep-2016 

Web Address for Applications: http://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S00052TP&cat=phd 

Contact Information: 
	Emar Maier 
	emar.maier at gmail.com  

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