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Hi all,

The CfP below may be of interest to some of you ...

Doreen



From: [log in to unmask] [mailto:[log in to unmask]] 
Sent: Thursday, February 05, 2009 12:53 PM
To: Doreen Starke-Meyerring, Dr.
Subject: CFP English Dictionaries

English Dictionaries in Global and Historical Context
http://post.queensu.ca/~strathy/topics/dic_conf.html
 

Proposals for papers, panels, and research seminars are invited for an
interdisciplinary conference on the social, historical and political
contexts of English-language dictionaries (unilingual or bilingual;
contemporary or historical) as well as other language-reference texts
(glossaries, wordlists, grammars, etc.).  This conference will be hosted
by the Strathy Language Unit and the Department of English at Queen's
University, Kingston, Canada, June 3-5, 2010. 

At this transhistorical and transnational conference, we will attempt to
step back from the pragmatics of producing dictionaries and language
reference texts in order to examine the place of this class of book in a
range of social, geographical, and historical contexts.  What cultural,
political, and creative functions have been served by the publication
and dissemination of English dictionaries? What is the role of lexical
reference and rhetorical guidance in societies across time and place?
What is gained or lost by defining, labelling, and translating English
words, and how have different cultures and societies understood the
function of these activities?  What might the material format of English
dictionaries (printed, visual, electronic) reveal about their social or
political functions? What role have English dictionaries played in the
transmission and exchange of cultural knowledge?  How is the publication
and dissemination of dictionaries implicated in ideology? How do
dictionaries intersect with oral cultures? What impact have dictionaries
had on the formation and development of literary culture? 
 
Proposals are invited on these and related topics.  Research
methodologies will be diverse, and may include book history
(publication, dissemination, and reception of dictionaries; questions of
authorship and intellectual property, historical and material
bibliography, etc.), cultural studies (patterns of inclusion and
exclusion; ideology of language and language movements; changing
demographics of English speakers, geographies of reading and
dissemination, etc.), historical lexicography, globalization theory,
textual studies.
 
The conference will include papers, panels, research seminars, and
roundtable discussions.  Mark Abley, author of The Prodigal Tongue:
Dispatches from the Future of English, will be the keynote speaker.
 
Submitting proposals:
 
1) Papers (20 minutes plus 10 minutes discussion)-include your name and
academic or professional affiliation, a working title and an abstract of
250-500 words.
 
2) Panel sessions (three papers of 20 minutes plus discussion)-include
an explanation of the theme of the panel, three abstracts and a note on
proposed panel members.
 
3) Research seminars-include a working title, a description of the topic
and goals of the proposed seminar, and a brief academic biography of the
leader(s). Seminars will be limited to 15 participants (calls
specifically for seminar participants will be made at a later date).
Seminars are designed to serve as forums for new research among scholars
with specialized interests and shared areas of expertise. Participants
will be expected to submit to the group a significant piece of work in
progress (usually 10-12 pages) ahead of the meeting.  The seminar
meeting itself will involve a discussion of participants' work within
the context of the seminar's stated objectives. Seminars may welcome
auditors.
 
Submit proposals by e-mail to Janice McAlpine, Director, Strathy
Language Unit, Queen's University <[log in to unmask]
<javascript:main.compose('new',[log in to unmask])> > 
 
or mail them to 
  
Professor Marta Straznicky
Head, Department of English
Queen's University
Kingston ON K7L 3N6
CANADA
 
Inquiries are welcome.  The deadline for submissions is April 27, 2009.

 

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