36.1123, Confs: From Experiences to Storytelling of Postmigration. Reinventing the Narratives of the Self and the World in Pluralistic European Societies (Belgium)

[The LINGUIST List]

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-1123. Wed Apr 02 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.1123, Confs: From Experiences to Storytelling of Postmigration. Reinventing the Narratives of the Self and the World in Pluralistic European Societies (Belgium)

Moderator: Steven Moran (linguist at linguistlist.org)
Managing Editor: Justin Fuller
Team: Helen Aristar-Dry, Steven Franks, Joel Jenkins, Daniel Swanson, Erin Steitz
Jobs: jobs at linguistlist.org | Conferences: callconf at linguistlist.org | Pubs: pubs at linguistlist.org

Homepage: http://linguistlist.org

Editor for this issue: Erin Steitz <ensteitz at linguistlist.org>

================================================================


Date: 01-Apr-2025
From: Letizia Sassi [letizia.sassi at uclouvain.be]
Subject: From Experiences to Storytelling of Postmigration. Reinventing the Narratives of the Self and the World in Pluralistic European Societies


>From Experiences to Storytelling of Postmigration. Reinventing the
Narratives of the Self and the World in Pluralistic European Societies

Date: 17-Sep-2025 - 19-Sep-2025
Location: Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Contact: Letizia Sassi
Contact Email: letizia.sassi at uclouvain.be
Meeting URL: https://sites.uclouvain.be/narramuse/en/upcoming-events/

Linguistic Field(s): Anthropological Linguistics; Cognitive Science;
Discourse Analysis; Ling & Literature; Sociolinguistics

Submission Deadline: 30-Apr-2025

International Conference (September 17-19, 2025)
Description and Call for Papers:
Developed and promoted by the German-speaking academic community,
frequently mobilized by Anglophone and Scandinavian scholars, yet less
used in Francophone and Italophone research, the concept of
postmigration marks a significant shift in migration discourses. By
dissolving the binary opposition between migrants and non-migrants, it
allows immigration to be regarded as an intrinsic component of
European societies. The conference “From Experiences to Storytelling
of Postmigration” aligns with this ongoing epistemological and
analytical transformation. It aims to explore how postmigration
thinking is reshaping the narratives that can be written, spoken, or
reconstructed from migration-related experiences. The conference will
examine the stances, strategies, frameworks, and narrative content
which emerge from the challenges, negotiations, conflicts, and
alliances arising within European societies facing the diversity
implied by migration.
Recognizing the diverse interpretations of postmigration, the
conference deliberately embraces the term in its broadest sense. It
invites exploration of the narratives of postmigrant
individuals—descendants of immigrants who have not directly
experienced migration. It also encourages the study of narratives
about postmigrant societies, understood as societies transformed by
immigration. Finally, the conference offers a space for considering a
postmigrant perspective on storytelling as a practice reshaped by the
dynamics of migration.
Resolutely pluralistic, the conference seeks to foster dialogues
across the arts and disciplines which, in various ways, aim to express
or give voice to the traces and stories left by migration within
contemporary European societies. Designed with a comparative approach,
it also promotes the exchange of studies on postmigration narratives
across different European cultural and linguistic contexts (Germany,
Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia, the United Kingdom, and
more).
Drawing on a range of disciplines, arts, and cultures, the papers will
explore postmigrant narratives of the self and the world. These
narratives will be examined through various dimensions of individual
and collective experience likely to result in a form of storytelling.
Key themes such as identity, hybridity, trauma, and struggle will
guide the exploration of the narratives of the self. Concepts like
connected history, memory, and postmemory could be employed to narrate
the postmigrant relationship with time. The postmigrant connection to
space will be approached through narratives of private and public
spaces that bear the marks of migration. Special attention will also
be given to the religious dimension, understood as a factor which
shapes both the relationship to the self and to the world. Beyond
these indicative themes, many other dimensions of postmigrant
experience may also be considered.
While a broad spectrum of narratives can be covered from various
perspectives, proposals should focus on one of the following themes.
1) Literary Narratives of Postmigration. This theme will examine the
forms and content that characterize postmigration narratives, ranging
from traditional genres (novel, autofiction, autobiography, etc.) to
more recent forms (rap, slam, podcast, etc.). The objective is to
explore the thematic, semiotic, pragmatic, linguistic, and narrative
strategies employed by each genre to recount and interrogate the
experiences of postmigrant individuals and societies. Literary
narratives can also be addressed as laboratories for the imagination,
offering spaces to experiment with new configurations of identity,
memory, and space—elements still to be actively (re)constructed in
today’s pluralistic societies. Finally, literary works can be studied
as tools of recognition, giving a voice to those often marginalized,
and contributing to the creation of a new imagined community.
2) Visual Narratives of Postmigration. This theme will focus on
artistic, cultural, and media productions which place the image at the
heart of postmigration narratives (such as cinema, documentary,
photography, etc.). The aim is to explore how visual media provide
unique resources for representing and conveying the individual and
collective experiences reshaped by immigration. It will also be
possible to analyze the techniques—such as composition and
editing—applied to make the image tell the stories of postmigrant
individuals and societies in Europe. Particular attention will be
given to narratives that reveal the traces of migration within urban
spaces, as public places often silently bear witness to the history of
immigration to Europe.
3) Postmigrant Narratives in Social Science Fieldwork. This theme will
focus on the methods of inquiry employed in anthropology and sociology
to enable immigrant populations and their descendants to tell their
own stories from a “demigrantized” perspective. It will explore the
forms of narrative that allow for the experience of interviewees to be
understood as an integral part of European societies. Special
attention will be given to scholarly narratives that, grounded in
real-life trajectories, redefine European histories and identities by
incorporating cultural references, such as Islam, into a pluralistic
framework where they are no longer considered foreign.
4) Historical Narratives of Postmigration. This theme aims to analyze
and demonstrate how postmigration can generate a counter-discourse to
dominant national histories. Drawing on Duncan S.A. Bell’s concept of
the “mythscape” (2003), it will examine the conditions under which
transnational and connected historiographies are written and received
so as to offer an account of the formation and evolution of
postmigrant European societies, challenging conventional narratives
and highlighting the diverse histories that shape contemporary Europe.
5) Postmigrant Narratives and Education. This theme will explore how
narrative can address the pedagogical challenges of multiculturalism
in classrooms within postmigrant European societies. It will also
examine innovative educational practices and strategies that enable
students to share personal stories deeply connected to immigration,
and the diversity of cultural and religious heritages.
6) Postmigrant Narratives and Commitment. This theme will examine how
storytelling functions as a form of engagement with the diversity of
cultural and religious heritages. More specifically, it will explore
whether individuals, in asserting their unique perspectives through
narrative, draw upon specific aspects of personal or collective
experience—such as personal development, issues related to the body,
or political stances. Additionally, the theme will investigate how
stories reflect the commitment of their authors, as well as the values
underlying this commitment, which are often embedded in the narrative
itself.
7) Postmigrant Narratives and Reception. This theme will explore how
postmigration narratives actively shape their own reception. In
particular, it will examine how these narratives engage with the
audience’s expectations, often playing with stereotypes and genre
conventions. The focus will also extend to how the narrative, as a
communicative act, is crafted to convey a message that takes into
account the pluralistic context in which it is shared. Lastly, the
theme will consider the image of the audience constructed by the
narrative, and, in relation to the previous theme, explore the type of
commitment the narrative seeks to inspire in its implicit audience.
The conference will be held at Université catholique de Louvain
(Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium), from September 17 to 19, 2025.
Papers may be presented in English, French, German or Italian.
Proposals, including a title, an abstract (approximately 300 words)
and a brief bio-bibliographical note, should be sent to Amaury Dehoux
(amaury.dehoux at uclouvain.be), Hubert Roland
(hubert.roland at uclouvain.be) and Letizia Sassi
(letizia.sassi at uclouvain.be) before April 30th, 2025.
We also welcome panel proposals. The organizer is asked to send the
title and program of the panel, including an abstract for each paper
(approximately 300 words), and a brief bio-bibliographical note for
each speaker. Proposals should also be sent to Amaury Dehoux
(amaury.dehoux at uclouvain.be), Hubert Roland
(hubert.roland at uclouvain.be) and Letizia Sassi
(letizia.sassi at uclouvain.be) before April 30th, 2025.
All submitters will be notified of the outcome of their proposal by
May 15th, 2025 at the latest.



------------------------------------------------------------------------------

********************** LINGUIST List Support ***********************
Please consider donating to the Linguist List to support the student editors:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=87C2AXTVC4PP8

LINGUIST List is supported by the following publishers:

Bloomsbury Publishing http://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/

Cambridge University Press http://www.cambridge.org/linguistics

Cascadilla Press http://www.cascadilla.com/

De Gruyter Mouton https://cloud.newsletter.degruyter.com/mouton

Edinburgh University Press http://www.edinburghuniversitypress.com

Elsevier Ltd http://www.elsevier.com/linguistics

John Benjamins http://www.benjamins.com/

Language Science Press http://langsci-press.org

Lincom GmbH https://lincom-shop.eu/

Multilingual Matters http://www.multilingual-matters.com/

Netherlands Graduate School of Linguistics / Landelijke (LOT) http://www.lotpublications.nl/

Oxford University Press http://www.oup.com/us

Wiley http://www.wiley.com


----------------------------------------------------------
LINGUIST List: Vol-36-1123
----------------------------------------------------------