LCL 2020

!!! Due to the coronavirus crisis we are not certain at this moment whether we will be able to have our workshop at the planned time. Depending on the situation in Europe, but also in East Africa and the USA (from where some of our guests intend to come), we may decide that it is best to postpone the event for a better time. We will make the final decision shortly. !!!

Language – Culture – Literature:

East African Perspective (II)

September 24-25, 2020

Venue: University of Warsaw, Main Campus, Old Library Building (no 9 on the map), 

ul. Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, Warsaw

Contact e-mail: conf.orient@uw.edu.pl

Call for Papers

The workshop aims at examining the relationship between language and culture while focusing on Swahili and other communities of East Africa. The present meeting continues the line of research initiated by a conference under the same theme which took place at the University of Warsaw in May of 2019. The workshop will provide a platform for researchers coming from different countries and working in different traditions to share their views on various aspects of language-culture-literature interconnections. We invite scholars of linguistics, literature and broad areas of cultural studies who work on Kiswahili and other languages of East Africa. Selected contributions will be published in a peer-reviewed monography.

The relation between language and culture has received a lot of attention in academic scholarship of the recent decades with a conclusion that cultural and linguistic experiences are interconnected and mutually affect each other. Cultural practices and values which societies “live by” are reflected in linguistic structures through metaphors and other conceptualizations (e.g. image and event schemas, frames and scripts). They are entrenched in everyday linguistic usage, clichés and frequent expressions, oral and written literature. At the same time, their manifestations in frequent use lead to emergence of “cultural cognition” and provide cultural models to follow and possibly develop in novel ways.

Suggested topics for presentations may cover cultural conceptualizations in:

• Linguistic structures and usage patterns
• Discourse and communication strategies
• Cultural keywords and values
• Grammaticalization processes
• Lexical categorization
• Expression of emotions
• Gestures and sign languages
• Idioms, clichés, frequent expressions
• Proverbs, riddles, enigmas
• Various literary genres
• Journalistic texts, comics and caricatures
• New media communication (WhatsApp, social media content)
• Translation and second language teaching

Invited Keynote Speakers:

Prof. Ernesta S. Mosha, University of Dar es Salaam

Prof. Leonard Muaka, Howard University

Prof. Alena Rettová, SOAS, University of London

Important dates

Deadline for abstract submission: March 31, 2020

Notification of papers acceptance: April 1, 2020

Conference dates: September 24-25, 2020

Each paper will be given 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussion.

Please send abstracts (a named version and an anonymous version, preferably in the pdf format) at: conf.orient@uw.edu.pl

Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, but a separate page with references may be added. Abstracts and papers should be in English.

Conference Organizing Committee:

Prof. Iwona Kraska-Szlenk 

Prof. Beata Wójtowicz 

Maria Piotrowska (Ph.D. student)

Izabela Romańczuk (Ph.D. student)

Registration Fee:

The registration fee will cover workshop materials, refreshments during coffee breaks and lunches.

Regular fee: 100 euro

Student’s fee: 50 euro

Conference fee should be paid by bank transfer before 31 August, 2020 to the University of Warsaw bank account. Please indicate the acronym of the conference and your name in the transfer description, i.e.: “LCL2020, conference fee for Mr/Ms.. ................”

name of the account holder: Uniwersytet Warszawski Wydział Orientalistyczny

address of the account holder: Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, PL 00-927 Warszawa

name of the bank: Bank Millenium

SWIFT (BIC):  BIGBPLPW

account no. PL 10 1160 2202 0000 0000 4989 5290

Conference webpage: http://www.afrykanistyka.uw.edu.pl/conferences/lcl-2020-1

Accommodation:

The easiest way to book accommodation in Warsaw is to use one of the international hotel booking websites such as Booking.com or Trivago.

All major international hotel companies such as Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton, Campanile etc. have their hotels in Warsaw, however these are usually located within 20-30 minutes bus ride from the University of Warsaw camps.

Some of the hotels located in the immediate vicinity of the conference venue are: Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, Dom Literatury, Fest Hostel, Harenda, Hostel Helvetia.

We can offer a limited number of rooms at HERA hotel situated at Belwederska 26/30 street. It is a University of Warsaw guesthouse situated at the heart of Warsaw, close to the popular Łazienki Park with good access to other parts of the city. There is a reliable and steady public transportation from HERA to the university campus. The price of a single room (with a lavatory and a wash basin) at HERA is 80 PLN per night. Please note that these are reduced prices for University of Warsaw guests upon the condition that we make room reservation for you. If you intend to stay at the HERA hotel, please send us the exact schedule of your arrival and departure so that we can make the booking for you.