*** AIA CONFERENCE *** Padova, 5-7 September 2019 Thinking out of the Box in Language, Literature, Cultural and Translation Studies: Questioning Assumptions, Debunking Myths, Trespassing Boundaries “Thinking out of the Box” is a powerful metaphor, one that challenges us to consider possibilities previously not even imagined, and to extend our vision – of the world and ourselves – to include alternative, complementary, or even contrasting perspectives. It means engaging in self-reflective, creative and/or lateral thinking, beyond what is obvious or commonplace, or even implicit in what we say and do. Most of all, it means becoming aware of the existence of “the box” (i.e. what we take for granted and how this conditions our conduct) and also being willing to question the validity of our convictions so as to expand our knowledge. It does not mean being innovative at all costs or for its own sake – in fact, it may mean going back to old practices. Rather, it requires the humility to pose “simple” questions meant to ascertain the accuracy of commonly held beliefs and taking stock of the findings. Thinking out of the box is an act of the imagination that brings new insights into our values and cultural assumptions, and an act of courage pushing us away from our comfort zone. At this AIA conference we ask colleagues to be bold and curious enough to open the door of their scholarly “box” and to explore the research space around it on a quest for evidence of what we assume or claim we already know. We ask them to be non-conformist, generating ideas that may challenge prevailing practices and beliefs; to dare to cross the boundaries of their sub-disciplines, interacting with scholars from neighbouring fields; and to try out something “unfashionable” that is not guaranteed to succeed, be understood or be well-received in order to pursue knowledge. 1. Language Workshop CALL FOR PAPERS Thinking out of the Box in Language Studies – in linguistic, language teaching and translation studies – may involve relabelling phenomena and concepts; investigating familiar communicative practices through novel methods; checking whether the concepts we use are suitable for describing the phenomena we study; determining to what extent our claims and assumptions are supported by the evidence available; and exploring approaches that are sometimes claimed to have reached the limits of their potential. Thinking out of the box may also be considered in terms of innovation, creativity, a rethinking of attitudes and approaches, and even a ‘daring’ return to theories and practices that may have been swept aside in the drive to move ever forward. For this reason, analyses are also welcome to take a historical /diachronic approach to different genres. Topics that could be addressed in this domain include but are not limited to the following: Comparing and contrasting (the accuracy of) definitions of key concepts. Challenging old and new trends in English language and translation teaching (e.g. cooperative learning, competitive learning, rote-learning, drills, creativity, project-based learning, curriculum-centred learning). Cutting edge cognitive approaches to phonology, morphology, semantics, syntax, pragmatics/discourse and interpreting/translation. Standard and non-standard approaches to English language and translation testing. Language/translation learning and soft skills development. Metalinguistic awareness. Gender in linguistics, language teaching and translation. Student perceptions of language learning and teaching practices. Emerging real-world settings, goals and materials. Proficiency, translanguaging and engagement in English-medium instruction. Corpora in linguistics, language teaching and translation. World Englishes, ELF and ‘standards’ of English. Convergence-divergence of theories, practices and findings in linguistics, language teaching and translation. Literature and linguistic description, language learning and translation practices. Exploring aspects of register and genre in linguistics, language teaching and translation. Challenging established research methods and developing innovative research practice. Describing, teaching and translating cross-linguistic verbal and non-verbal behaviour. Alternative approaches to media in linguistics, language teaching and translation. Convenors: Katherine Ackerley Marina Dossena Sara Gesuato Stefania Maci Maria Teresa Musacchio Giuseppe Palumbo We will take into consideration both proposals for individual papers and for panels (3-4 participants). Proposals for each individual paper should be approx. 400 words long. Please send also a 200-word bio for each participant. Please send your proposal by 31 March 2019 to: Maria Teresa Musacchio mt.musacchio@unipd.it 2. Literature Workshop CALL FOR PAPERS Thinking out of the Box in Literary Studies means rethinking, finding new approaches, challenging not only assessments on individual authors or works, but sometimes the very structure of our approach to literature. This perspective prompts a number of large-scale questions on the scope of English literature in relation to the wider frame of literatures in English. It also invites us to reassess our own remit as scholars, prompting us to interrogate the very notion of literature as system and, by extension, even our very notions of the literary and literariness. The 2017 AIA Conference (‘Worlds of Words: Complexity, Creativity, and Conventionality in English Language, Literature and Culture’) focused on the dichotomy of convention and creativity, and thus constitutes an excellent starting point for the discussion to which the 2019 Conference invites the scholarly community. We may start with the issue of canonization, the most obvious ‘box’ for literary studies. It is an immensely helpful and equally dangerous tool, which demands adherence to general rules, striving to fit each individual writer to a norm. Often, challenges to the canon, whether they come from feminist, Marxist, postmodern, or new historicist studies, have resulted in the creation of an alternative canon. In this conference we seek to interrogate canonicity itself: by looking at case studies, critical schools, influential anxieties and maverick figures, we intend to explore the tensions between creativity, old and new conventions, critical clichés. World Literature interrogates the possibility of a national canon, and asks us to look, instead, at book circulation, reception, translation, and adaptation. As we move away from the idea of national literature (based on the conventional equation ‘one nation: one language’) and towards transnational or world literature, literary genres acquire new centrality. The recent insistence on categories such as the global novel underlines this concept, but we may find this
