The Notion of Commitment: 2nd CFP

Wed Jul 12 18:16:39 UTC 2006

CALL FOR PAPERS: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

under the auspices of the Linguistic Society of
Belgium:

« THE NOTION OF COMMITMENT IN LINGUISTICS »

January 11-13, 2007 / University of Antwerp (Belgium)

Organizers :
Patrick Dendale (Universiteit Antwerpen)
Danielle Coltier (Université du Maine, Le Mans)
Philippe De Brabanter (Université Paris 4-Sorbonne –
Institut Jean Nicod)

Keynote Speakers :
Robyn CARSTON (University College London)
Paul LAURENDEAU (York University, Toronto)
+ 2 others to be announced

Abstract Deadline : August, 20 2006

The notion of commitment
(Non-)Commitment ((non-)prise en charge in French) is
a notion which is fairly often used in the analysis of
certain types of linguistic phenomena (sometimes under
the guise of other la-bels, such as “assuming
responsibility for” or “endorsing” or
“performativity”) – e.g. in the analysis of speech
acts, of semantic categories such as modality,
evidentiality and subjectiv-ity, of different forms of
reported speech, and of certain tenses and moods. But
it is hardly ever the subject of explicit
investigation in its own right.

Goal of the conference
The aim of this conference is to bring together
research which crucially draws on the notion of
(non-)commitment in one or another way, in an attempt
to achieve a better understanding of the nature and
the extension of the notion itself. It welcomes
theoretical and empirical con-tributions addressing
the issue in its own right or in terms of its role in
any relevant linguistic or conceptual phenomenon,
using any kind of methodological approach, and coming
from any kind of theoretical background. One section
of the conference will be devoted to typological
contributions, next to other sections dealing with
grammatical or lexical markers or strategies of
(non-)commitment in the Romance and Germanic
languages.

Theoretical problems pertaining to the notion 
The theoretical issues addressed in this conference
can be summarized in terms of five central questions:
A)	To what does (non-)commitment apply? What are
possible objects or (aspects of) ob-jects of
(non-)commitment (elements of form, aspects or levels
of meaning, illocution-ary force)? Is commitment
entirely dependent on “what is in the speaker’s mind”
(the concepts and intentions a speaker has access to)
or may one be committed to “things that are in other
people’s minds”?
B)	Who commits him/herself? Who is the agent of the
commitment (which instance of the speaker)? This,
which relates to the notion of “polyphony” popularised
by Oswald Ducrot, is especially important when several
speakers/thinkers can be identified in an utterance,
as in cases of reported speech or reported thought.
C)	When does (non-)commitment apply? Only at the
moment of speech, or also at other times?
D)	What is the nature of (non-)commitment? Are there
different forms or degrees of it?
E)	How is (non-)commitment taken? Under which
conditions and by means of which forms, mechanisms or
strategies is it signalled?

Conference languages
In view of the fact that the notion of
(non-)commitment or (non-)prise en charge ((non
)res¬ponsibilité) is quite manifestly present in the
French linguistic tradition (especially in the
af-termath of the work of Benveniste), more so than in
the Anglo-American tradition, the present conference
also explicitly aims to establish communication on the
issue between these ‘geo-graphical’ research
traditions. Therefore, the conference will feature
presentations in French as well as in English.

Deadline for abstract submissions is August 20, 2006

Format and evaluation of abstracts
•	Abstracts will be refereed anonymously.
•	Abstracts are to be submitted as an attachment in
Word or Rich Text Format to an email sent to
commitment2007 at ua.ac.be. Your abstract should be in
French or in English (please use the language of the
actual presentation). It should not exceed 500 words
(references not included). Please include the title
but do not mention the name of the author(s). Use
Times Roman 12 and single spacing, and make sure to
embed TrueType Fonts for special characters (cf.
typological studies).
•	The email accompanying the abstract should contain
the title of the presentation (identical to the title
indicated on the abstract in the attachment), the name
of the author(s), and their full coordinates
(affiliation, postal address, email address).
•	Notification of acceptance/rejection: September
2006.

Conference registration
•	Registration fee: 80 Euro 
•	Special registration fees apply to members of the
Linguistic Society of Belgium, please check the
website (www.bkl-cbl.be) for details. 

Important dates
Abstract deadline: August 20, 2006
Notification: September 2006
Conference dates: January 11-13, 2007, at the
University of Antwerp (Belgium)

Conference website: www.ua.ac.be/commitment 

For further information, please contact
Patrick Dendale  
University of Antwerp
Department of Linguistics
Universiteitsplein 1
B-2610 Anvers-Wilrijk 
Belgium
Email: patrick.dendale at ua.ac.be
Web : webhost.ua.ac.be/dendale
Tél : +32 3 820 28 13 
Fax : +32 3 820 28 23

* * * * *

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