36.2917, Calls: Esercizi Filosofici - "Special Issue: Language(s) of Propaganda" (Jrnl)

Tue Sep 30 11:05:02 UTC 2025

LINGUIST List: Vol-36-2917. Tue Sep 30 2025. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 36.2917, Calls: Esercizi Filosofici - "Special Issue: Language(s) of Propaganda" (Jrnl)

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Date: 30-Sep-2025
From: Caterina Lupieri [caterina.lupieri at phd.units.it]
Subject: Esercizi Filosofici - "Special Issue: Language(s) of Propaganda" (Jrnl)

Journal: Esercizi Filosofici
Issue: Language(s) of Propaganda
Call Deadline: 31-Jan-2026

We are inviting paper submissions to the special issue of Esercizi
Filosofici entitled: Language(s) of Propaganda
Guest Editors:
Irene Lo Faro, University of Bamberg;
Caterina Lupieri, University of Trieste.
Description:
The term propaganda is commonly associated with the public discourse
typical of totalitarian regimes, where a body promoting propaganda –
usually the government – manipulates the public into believing and
acting in a certain way. According to this understanding, propaganda
appeals to emotions, serves despicable ends, and employs lies; hence,
it carries a morally negative connotation. These purposes are contrary
to democratic values; accordingly, in a democracy, it is expected that
public discourse should never be propagandistic. Yet, scholars have
challenged these conceptions of propaganda claiming that a form of
propaganda in democracies does exist and that propaganda in general is
not necessarily morally negative. Among the more recent influential
works is Stanley (2015), which distinguishes between two forms of
propaganda: supporting and undermining (for critical discussions of
this distinction see, for example, Bonard et al. 2024, Cepollaro &
Torrengo 2020, Táíwò 2020, Mills 2018). According to him, they both
appeal to non-rational means, but it is the second type, undermining
propaganda, that he considers more dangerous for a democracy. This is
because through emotional means, it apparently promotes certain worthy
political ideals while actually “undermining” them. Consequently, this
form of propaganda is not easy to detect. In addition, we already tend
to think that we won’t find propaganda in a democracy. It is therefore
challenging for the public to discern what is propaganda and what is
not. With this in mind, researchers today investigate the ways in
which propaganda appears in democratic societies; the new and most
insidious means of propaganda today and the possible overlap of
propaganda with advertisement, persuasion, rhetoric, or strategic
communication among other issues.
In his work, Stanley (2015) focuses primarily on how propaganda is
conveyed linguistically. With this approach, notions such as
dogwhistles (Quaranto 2022, Saul 2018, Howdle 2023), code words (Khoo
2017), and figleaves (Saul 2017) become relevant, intersecting with
linguistic theories such as speech act theory (see, e.g., acts of
subordination in Langton 1993) and hate speech studies (Petrilli 2020,
Bianchi 2021, McGowan 2019, Anderson et al. 2025). Moreover, this
perspective engages with the longstanding linguistic research on
propaganda, ranging from the study of semantics and lexicon of
propagandistic language to the online detection of propaganda through
its linguistic features (Fleming 1995, Ghani 2010, Irfan et al. 2019).
However, as Klemperer (1947) already argued in his work on the
language of the Third Reich, propaganda is not limited to linguistic
means: non-linguistic forms (songs, images, parades, buildings, even
silence) can also be interpreted as propaganda (Sapag et al. 2023,
Kolhatkar & Ingalls 2006, Geoboers & Pilipets 2024, Karagülle &
Hidayati, 2025).
This special issue aims to develop further studies on propaganda and
to take stock of the scholarly contributions to the study of
propaganda, beginning with its philosophical and linguistic
challenges. Furthermore, it seeks to develop specific areas of
empirical research that are especially timely and that, in turn, raise
new theoretical questions – for instance, the renewed relationship
between propaganda and contemporary mass communication platforms
(Facebook, X, TikTok, etc.) and the role assumed by propaganda in
light of recent global geopolitical developments. In addition, we
welcome interdisciplinary submissions that can complement qualitative
philosophical studies with quantitative linguistic research.
To contribute to the current debate on propaganda, we invite
submissions addressing (but not limited to) the following themes:
 - Propaganda and political discourse: the role and forms of
propaganda in contemporary democracies.
 - “Covert” propaganda: linguistic and non-linguistic strategies such
as dogwhistles, code words, figleaves, etc.
 - Propaganda in pernicious communicative contexts: hate speech,
conspiracy theories, polarization.
 - Propaganda and social media: new tools and new agents of
propaganda.
 - Recognising and countering propaganda.
Online Submission:
Submission Deadline: Papers must be submitted by January 31, 2026. If
an extension of the deadline is needed, please contact the editors.
All submitted papers will undergo a double-blind peer review process.
The outcome of the review process will be communicated by March 31,
2026. The possible outcomes of the review are: a) accepted as it is;
b) accepted with minor revisions; c) accepted with major revisions; d)
not accepted. In the case of revisions, the deadline for resubmitting
the revised paper according to the reviewers’ feedback is April 30,
2026. The issue will be published in June 2026
Contributions may be submitted in either Italian or English.
Submissions should present the results of original studies, both
theoretical and historical, within the broader field of philosophical
inquiry. Manuscripts must not have been previously published or be
under consideration for publication in another journal. Each
submission should include an abstract of 600-800 characters (including
spaces) and 5 keywords, both in English and Italian. The length of the
papers should be approximately 40,000 characters (including spaces).
Please send the manuscripts as .doc or .docx file attachments to the
email address: eserfilo at units.it. All submitted papers will undergo a
double-blind peer review process.
Author Submission Guidelines:
Authors are asked to prepare their manuscripts according to the
journal’s standard
(https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-KAMzy0J_2NIu4jcjmuHM7y6WHXUi-pw/view)
and template
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-_QE4ALWK_Ja1_rTZIPwi_pfQ8HZ1CBV/edit?rtpof=true&sd=true)
To download this CfP click here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1g_spo6_s5gNFwdoPeOiSHXOH3skIvUhk/view
Contact:
For any questions, please directly contact:
Irene Lo Faro, irene.lo-faro at uni-bamberg.de
Caterina Lupieri, caterina.lupieri at phd.units.it

Linguistic Field(s): Applied Linguistics
                     Discourse Analysis
                     General Linguistics
                     Philosophy of Language
                     Pragmatics

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