Conference for AL Becker

[Pat Rounds]

                        Conference Announcement

                        The Notion of Person:
        A Conference to Honor the Work of Alton L. Becker

        Many contemporary scholars have been inspired at some point in
their careers by the work of A.L. Becker.  In this conference invited
speakers will acknowledge and celebrate that influence by presenting a
series of papers addressing one aspect of Becker's framework defining the
contextual constraints on text-building acts: the notion of person.
        Professor Becker has written that person, or the ordering of
linguistic forms according to their distance from the speaker, may be the
central thread in the semantic structuring of all languages.  We will
explore how the notion of person is expressed in aspects of linguistic
systems; e.g. deictics, pronouns, classifiers, metaphors, style.  Those
interested in discourse analysis, sociolingustics, pragmatics,
anthropology, and second language acquisition will find much of interest.
        The two day working conference, May 17 & 18 1996 at the
University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, will include ample time for
reflection with Professor Becker acting as respondent after presented
papers and during round table discussions.
        For a registration form and accommodations, contact Pat Rounds:
plrounds at oregon.uoregon.edu Please write "Becker Conference" on the
Subject line of your message.  The conference fee is $45.
        If you're interested in helping with the conference or need more
information contact Charley Basham FFCSB at aurora.alaska.edu or Susan
Fiksdal fiksdals at elwha.evergreen.edu


Selected Bibliography of A.L. Becker's Work

1975. A Linguistic Image of Nature:  The Burmese Numerative Classifier
  System.  International Journal of the Sociology of Language 5:109-121
1976. Person in Kawi:  Exploration of an Elementary Semantic Dimension
  (with I Gusti Ngurah Oka).  Oceanic Linguistics 13, 229-255.
1979.  The Figure a Sentence Makes:  Interpretation of a Classical
  Malay Sentence. In Givon, T. (ed.), Syntax and Semantics 12.
1979. Text-building, Epistemology, and Aesthetics in Javanese Shadow
  Theatre. In Becker and Yengoyan (eds.), The Imagination of Reality.
  Norwood, N.J.:  Ablex.
1981. The Poetics and Noetics of a Javanese Poem. In Tannen, D.(ed.)
  Spoken and Written Language. Norwood, N.J.:Ablex.
1981. On Emerson on Language.  In Tannen, D. (ed.), Georgetown
  University Round Table on Languages and Linguistics 1981.
1982. Beyond Translation:  Esthetics and Language Description.  In
  Byrnes, H. (ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages
  and Linguistics.
1982. Beyond Translation:  Esthetics and Language Description.  In
  Byrnes, H. (ed.), Georgetown University Round Table on Languages and
  Linguistics 1982.
1984. Biography of a Sentence: A Burmese Proverb.  In Bruner, E. (ed.),
  Text, Play, and Story:  The Construction and Reconstruction of Self and
  Society.  1983 Proceedings of the American Ethnological Society.
1985. The Figure a Classifier Makes.  In Craig,  (ed.), Categories and
  Noun Classification. Amsterdam:John Benjamins.
1985. Philology and Logophilia. 1984 Hoijer Memorial Lecture at UCLA.
  In Kroskrity, P. (ed.), Essays in Honor of Edward Sapir.  UCLA
  Department  of Anthropology.
1986. Person in Austro-Thai:  comments on the Pronoun Paradigm in
  Benedict's Austro-Thai Language and Culture. In Matisoff, J. (ed.),
  Festshrift for Paul Benedict.
1988. Language in  Particular:  A Lecture. In Tannen, D.  (ed.),
  Linguistics in Context. Norwood, N.J.:  Ablex.
1991.  A Short Essay on Languaging.  In Steier, F., (ed.), Research and
  Reflexivity. London: Sage Publications.
1992. Silence Across Languages.  In Kramsch, C. and McConnell-Ginet, S.
  (eds.), Text and Context. Toronto: Heath.
1994.  Repetition and otherness:  An Essay.  In Johnstone, B. (ed.),
  Repetition in Discourse: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Vol 2.
  Norwood, N.J.:  Ablex.
1995. (to appear)  Giving Distance its Due.  Berkeley Linguistics Society.
1995. (to appear)  Beyond Translation:  Essays Toward a Modern
  Philology.  University of Michigan Press.