CALL FOR PAPERS
Language in Times of War and Conflict
An Interdisciplinary Symposium to be held at the Australian National University, 13-14 November 2017
This interdisciplinary symposium aims to bring together scholars and researchers working on diverse aspects of the topic of language in times of war and conflict. Language – from the language deployed in propaganda to the experiences of interpreters in war zones – is a critical part of the story of war. Yet it is not always made the explicit focus of study. A number of scholars have started to develop a body of work on the topic with some geographical areas (the UK, Europe) and conflicts (the First and Second World Wars) being better represented than others. We hope to encourage productive discussions that will increase our understanding of language in times of war and conflict. We welcome papers covering a wide chronological and geographical range, but are especially keen to bring together scholars working on Australian topics. It is anticipated that the symposium will result in an edited volume.
Papers are welcome on topics including but not limited to:
- corpus approaches to language and war
- the language of propaganda and politics in wartime
- the language of commemoration and remembrance
- experiences of interpreters
- cross-cultural communication in times of war and conflict
- language learning and policy in military and government contexts
- language and identity
We will be launching the book Memory and the Wars on Terror: Australian and British Perspectives (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) edited by Richard Gehrmann and Jessica Gildersleeve as part of the event.
Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and a short biography to amanda.laugesen@anu.edu.au by 10 September 2017.
Two small grants will be available to support postgraduates to attend the event. Please indicate if you are interested in applying for this funding when submitting your abstract.
Registration for this event will be free of charge.
Presented by School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics ANU College of Arts & Social Sciences