35.1294, Calls: Silence in Analogue and Digital Communication in Western Modernity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on its Phenomenology and Change

Tue Apr 23 18:05:02 UTC 2024

LINGUIST List: Vol-35-1294. Tue Apr 23 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.1294, Calls: Silence in Analogue and Digital Communication in Western Modernity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on its Phenomenology and Change

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Date: 22-Apr-2024
From: Torsten Leuschner [torsten.leuschner at ugent.be]
Subject: Silence in Analogue and Digital Communication in Western Modernity: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on its Phenomenology and Change

Full Title: Silence in analogue and digital communication in Western
modernity: interdisciplinary perspectives on its phenomenology and
change

Date: 12-Dec-2024 - 14-Dec-2024
Location: Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, Halle
(Sachsen-Anhalt), Germany
Contact Person: Theo Jung
Meeting Email: silenceinhalle at mail.de

Linguistic Field(s): Discourse Analysis; Pragmatics; Sociolinguistics;
Text/Corpus Linguistics

Call Deadline: 30-Jun-2024

Meeting Description:

This conference seeks to explore how changes in the conditions, means,
and opportunities of communication in the Western world since 1800
have affected the perception and the evaluation of silence and
concealment. Silence is understood broadly as the absence of
communication where it could have been expected or relevant, and as
encompassing forms of concealment. Our object of investigation is
therefore not limited to synchronous oral communication, but includes
a multitude of written, oral, and multimodal forms of analogue and
digital communication in a broad spectrum of historical and societal
contexts.

The relevance of silence as a phenomenon of communication and the
changes affecting its uses, functions and evaluation become manifest
in Western modernity in at least five ways:

First, silence is part of an evolving communicative landscape in the
constitution of modern societies as literacy increases and mass media
develop along with different modalities of mediated communication,
digitisation and social media. In this context, increasing production
of, and exposure to, communication has led both to rising expectations
on communication and to disappointment when expected communication
fails to occur.

Second, processes of democratisation have increased the demand for
information and transparency and for the inclusive and active
participation of citizens in political processes and discourse since
the long 19th century. As the volume of public discourse grew and
expectations of and demands on communication rose, silence came
increasingly to be scandalised. Moreover, refusal to engage in
communication and discourse can be criticised as forsaking one’s right
of political participation. Even modern dictatorships have to
acknowledge expectations of participation and develop processes of
pseudo-consensual communication. In turn, refusal to engage can be
seen as resistance.

Third, for people with diverse ethnic, ability, or gender backgrounds,
the availability of forums for expression and resonance becomes
crucial, as members of diverse groups work for inclusion and against
silence in analogue and digital communication. However, the very same
strategies are being used to increase the acceptance of
anti-democratic, exclusionary agendas, alleging a left-liberal
hegemony and accusing the mainstream media of stifling freedom of
expression and restricting access to discourse for some segments of
political opinion.

Fourth, together with increased opportunities of and demands on
communication, hopes have risen that communication itself can help
solve problems and alleviate conflict. Political dialogue and
negotiations, conflict mediation and therapeutical talking cures are
designed to avoid or overcome problems, while communicative reticence
is seen as an obstacle to achieving this.

Fifth, since the second half of the 20th century especially, social
and cultural liberalisation has brought the de-tabooisation of
traumatic experience, mental health, bodily functions, gender and
sexuality, illness and disability. Such changes are negotiated in
debates about what can(not) be said and in attempts to (re)draw
borders of possibility and acceptability.

Call for Papers:

Papers are invited addressing the themes sketched above (or
potentially others) while looking into the uses, functions,
perceptions, and evaluations of silence in analogue or digital
communication with a view to historical change. Questions such as the
following could be pursued:

•       What are the functions of silence in different situational,
institutional, and media contexts? How do such functions change before
the background of various broader processes of social change?
•       Which societal, political or other consequences arise from
controversial debates about the meaning and legitimacy of silence?
•       Which cultural values are associated with silence (and with
communication as its implicit counterpart) in analogue and digital
communication, and with what implications?
•       In which contexts and at what times do expectations of and
demands on communication raise and fall? What consequences does this
have for the ways in which silence is evaluated?
•       How do opportunities of communication and silence relate to
societal diversity and  inclusion and/or marginalization?

Conference languages will be German and English. Papers will last 20
minutes, followed by 10 minutes of discussion. Please submit an
anonymised abstract of up to 500 words (excluding references) via
email to silenceinhalle at mail.de by 30 June 2024. You will hear back
from the organising committee by the end of July 2024. We are planning
to publish selected contributions after the conference.

There will be no charge for registration. Support for travel and/or
accommodation expenses may be available for early-career researchers
without financial backup from an institution. If this applies to you,
please contact us at silenceinhalle at mail.de.

Organising committee: Annamária Fábián (Bayreuth, Germany), Theo Jung
(Halle, Germany), Torsten Leuschner (Ghent, Belgium), Armin Owzar
(Paris, France), Melani Schroeter (Reading, UK), Igor Trost (Passau,
Germany), Stefanie Ullmann (Cambridge, UK), Judith Visser (Bochum,
Germany)

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