Conference on Language, Discourse and Identity in Central Europe

[Harold F. Schiffman]

 AILA Research Network on Language Policy > Conference on Language,
Discourse and Identity in Central Europe

Forwarded From:  Stevenson P.R., Fri, Jun 23 2006 6:52 am
<P.R.Steven... at soton.ac.uk>

Call for papers

University of Southampton
Centre for Transnational Studies
Language, Discourse and Identity in Central Europe
6-8 July 2007


Keynote speakers

Thomas Diez, Birmingham
Matthias Makowski, Prague
Ulrike Hanna Meinhof, Southampton
Ruth Wodak, Lancaster/Vienna

Context and rationale


In 2004 Andreas Gardt and Bernd Hueppauf published a collection of papers
with the ominous title Globalization and the Future of German (Mouton de
Gruyter). This wide-ranging volume presents a critical assessment of the
present position and future prospects of the German language as a
'paradigmatic example' of the future of European languages in general in
the face of global forces apparently favouring the growing domination of
'global Englishes' and militating against linguistic diversity.

In the same year, the Southampton Centre for Transnational Studies
organised a conference on Language and the Future of Europe, from which
selected papers have now been published in Clare Mar-Molinero and Patrick
Stevenson (eds) Language Ideologies, Policies and Practices (Palgrave,
2006). In her keynote paper, Susan Gal explores the complex relations
between migration, minorities and multilingualism in Europe in terms of
shifting language ideologies, challenging 'the tight Herderian weave of
culture, language and state in Europe' which, she argues, 'is being
stretched and frayed in subtle ways.'

In July 2007, the Centre will host a conference with the aim of developing
these two themes in a particular way. It will investigate Gal's assertion
further by focusing on the context of what she refers to as the 'fractal
geography' of central Europe. Specifically, it will form part of a
research programme, funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council,
on the role of the German language in the formation and contestation of
national and regional identities in Germany, Austria and neighbouring
states in the centre of Europe (www.glipp.soton.ac.uk
<http://www.glipp.soton.ac.uk/> ).

The main focus of the conference will therefore be not on 'the future of
the German language' but rather on the position and uses of German in
relation to other languages in the current reshaping of central European
space - whether as the dominant, officially legitimated language of
Germany or Austria, as the minority language of historical migrations, or
as a (potential) regional lingua franca occupying the middle ground
between global English and 'national' languages.

Papers are invited that address the roles of language, experiences of and
with language, and discourses about language. As with the previous
conference, preference will be given to papers that integrate
consideration of ideologies, policies and practices. It is envisaged that
selected papers from the conference will be published in book-form in
English, and papers should therefore be given in English.  Abstracts
(maximum 200 words) should be sent by email by 1 February 2007 to Dr Jenny
Carl at the following address: g... at soton.ac.uk. Abstracts should be
included in the body of the email, NOT as an attachment.

Questions that could be addressed:

What impact has social, political, economic and cultural transformation
had on patterns of multilingualism in central Europe?

How has migration into and within this region affected linguistic
practices?

How far and in what ways is linguistic difference 'heard' and 'seen' in
these multilingual settings?

Are new language ideologies emerging?

Who engages in language policy-making and to what ends?

How far and in what ways are identities imposed, assumed or negotiated
linguistically or through reference to language?

How do individuals use the linguistic resources available to them to
position themselves and others in multilingual space?

What role do narratives about language play in individual biographies and
memories of the pre-1989 past?

Topics could include:

Language ideologies
Identity narratives
Negotiations of identity
Language biographies
Visual manifestations of multilingualism
Globalisation and its discontents
Media discourses (film, TV, music, print media, advertising)
Linguistic practices in popular and youth culture
Linguistic counter-cultures
Linguistic practices and new technologies
Language policy and language management
The role of language and culture agencies (British Council, Goethe
Institut etc)
Language and migration (into and within CE)
Language and tourism
Language and history/ memory
Discursive representations of time and place
Language and belonging
Language and social inclusion/exclusion
Language and citizenship
Sprachkultur and language loyalty
Language in multinational businesses
Language and the knowledge economy
Standardisation and linguistic 'legitimacy'
Language and cosmopolitanism
The national and the transnational
Language and territory / de-territorialisation of language
Urban spaces and linguistic neighbourhoods
Speech communities and language communities
Paradoxes of discourses on cultural and linguistic diversity
Language and social / cultural elites
Political discourses

Organisers


Prof. Patrick Stevenson, Dr Jenny Carl and Livia Schanze
Centre for Transnational Studies
Modern Languages
School of Humanities
University of Southampton
Southampton SO17 1BJ
U.K.