The University of Warsaw and the Institute of Applied Linguistics together with the International Association for Dialogue Analysis (IADA) jointly invite submissions to the international conference on dialogue: “Towards Culture(s) of Dialogue? Communicating Unity in/and Diversity through Language and Discourse,” The conference will be held in Warsaw, Poland from 22th-25th September 2020.
Intercultural exchange and integration that are now observed in many regions of the world contribute to an ongoing merger of different fields of socio-political life. The aspirations for tighter and maturer trans-national/trans-regional cooperation, fostered by the focus on pluralistic and democratic procedures, are often paralleled with sustained or growing cultural divisions. They are manifest in various discourse-mediated acts of segregation, marginalization and exclusion. Despite the efforts at orderliness, lawfulness and partnership in the public realm, the latter frequently becomes an arena of communicative chaos, misunderstanding, violence and aggression. In the light of the growing cultural and interactive dissonance in different parts of the world, questions arise as to the role of linguistics, dialogue studies, discourse analysis as well as other related humanities in confronting the various forms of communicative antagonism that penetrates both public and private domains.
The aim of this conference is to approach the observed dynamics in global intercultural communication by tracing discourse strategies of modern institutions. Are there any alternatives to oppressive styles and exclusionary rhetoric, as well as to polarised and confrontational stances emerging from them in public and private spheres? Can the ‘closed’ interactive positions be transformed into substantial, efficient and constructive dialogue? How can the ‘unity’-oriented discourse activities compromise, dismiss or accommodate expressive ‘diversity’ in the interaction game? The above problems pose questions as to speakers’ critical language awareness, communicative competence and responsibility in selecting, rejecting, modifying and creating local and global discourse practices. Reflective choices and modelling of these strategies may be constitutive of ‘culture(s) of dialogue’.
We invite linguists, discourse analysts, sociologists, psychologists, political and media scientists, law experts, philosophers, anthropologists, culture mediators (translators, teachers, etc.), as well as other researchers from related disciplines to the multidisciplinary discussion of prospects and limits of mediating human culture(s) through dialogue.
More specific topics within the conference fall in, but are not restricted to, the following areas:
* (new) genres and modalities of dialogue;
* dialogue in (public) social institutions (media, politics, business, healthcare, courts, science, education, religion, family, etc.);
* narratives in dialogue;
* multilingual and intercultural dialogue;
* pragmatics, semantics and rhetoric of dialogue;
* searching for common ground in communication;
* (un)certainty and knowledge in dialogue: negotiating, deliberating and establishing social facts; argument structure; commitment to truth and obligation, etc.;
* positioning in dialogue; heteroglossia and polyphony of voices in dialogue;
tension or complementariness between/within local and global, contemporary and historical, modern and traditional interactive patterns;
* conflict management and problem-solving in mediation, arbitration, social consultations, counselling, therapy, etc.; dialogue in peace-making, peace-building and peace-keeping;
* online dispute resolution;
* confronting and counteracting verbal oppression (deception, cheating, lying, perpetration, propaganda, censorship, manipulation, etc.);
* discourses of commemoration and reconciliation;
* minority and immigrant discourses in intercultural dialogue;
* ethical aspects of dialogue: participation and uniplurality in discourse;
* speaker/writer subjectivation; authentic and fake dialogue;
* transparency of meaning in dialogue; discoursal bias and neutrality;
* expressing reflexivity, (self-)reflection and responsibility in dialogue;
* dialogic formation of personal and communal identity; transformation of self, * other and culture in dialogue;
* dialogue and language/culture change;
* role of dialogue in pedagogy of critical language awareness and language/media literacy;
* dialogue-oriented attitudes in intercultural and foreign/second language instruction;
* literary/artistic discourses and dialogue; translation and dialogue.
The language of the conference is English.
Contact:
iada2020-ddd.ils.uw.edu.pl
