Members’ Events

Title: “Metamorphoses and Fluidity: Ever-Changing Shapes in the Stream of Time” Dates: 7-8 May 2024 Place: Tor Vergata University of Rome Organising committee: TrAdE Group, Department of History, Humanities and Society, Tor Vergata University of Rome Please submit your proposals (max 200 words) to: segreteria.trade@gmail.com by 20 January 2024, and check the website https://gruppotrade-2019.uniroma2.it for full call for papers and other info. Prominent theoretical issues and practices in contemporary Western intellectual cultures have made metamorphosis a desirable area for scholarly study, as the topic is frequently juxtaposed or linked with something that is not only “other”. Metamorphosis, however, not only questions the distinctions between the subject and its “other” or between language and nonlanguage; it also raises issues of definition. As a result, many studies focused on the concept of metamorphosis emphasize epistemological and ontological issues pertaining to the subject’s interaction with the outside world and other people as well as the subject’s understanding of both the subject and the outside world. Another topic that has received much attention in recent studies is metamorphosis as a tropological issue, as it draws from a variety of trope categories, particularly metaphor and metonymy, and yet, as a representation of a startling and seemingly miraculous change, it is also capable of playing with the line between the literal and figurative. The fourth edition of the biannual conference organized by the Research Group TrAdE (Translation and Adaptation from/into English) seeks to explore how translation and adaptation deal with ever-changing literary and linguistic shapes in the stream of time. The transdisciplinary Conference shall be focused on (but not limited to): metamorphosis/fluidity in education and (social) media; in art(s), music, movies, and TV series; in language, literature, linguistics, and translation; metamorphosis/fluidity of style(s) and genre(s).

Title: “The Travelling Self: Tourism and Life-Writing in Eighteenth-Century Europe” Dates: 18-20 July 2024 Place: University of Oxford Organising committee: Catriona Seth (Oxford) and Giovanni Iamartino (Milan) Please submit abstracts in English or French (c. 200 words) by 15 February 2024 to Catriona.Seth@mod-langs.ox.ac.uk and giovanni.iamartino@unimi.it . The eighteenth century saw the invention of modern tourism and a startling proliferation of new kinds of life-writing. This conference will explore how travellers wrote about themselves while they were away from home, and how our historical understanding of the phenomenon of travel – including domestic travel, but focusing on the Grand Tour – has relied on, but also been restricted by, travellers’ own accounts, whether they seek to project a specific image of themselves (public or private, true or self-censored) or are unaware of how much they are giving up. Letters, diaries, journals, travelogues and any kind of personal reminiscences – either real or fictional – may provide textual evidence of the ‘travelling self’. Biotourism, the selves on tour, absent selves and the life-writing of travel are some of the approaches which colleagues might like to envisage. The conference is being planned under the aegis of the British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies and the Società Italiana di Studi sul Secolo Diciottesimo (who have so far organised six international joint conferences) with the support of the Société Française d’Etude du XVIIIe Siècle, All Souls College Oxford, the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages of the University of Oxford, and the Maison Française d’Oxford. A small number of bursaries to cover accommodation costs for unwaged or early career researchers will be provided. If you are applying for one, please indicate your current academic status in your proposal.

Title: “A Foil to the Hero: Antiheroic Characters in Language, Literature, and Translation” Date: 4 April 2024 Place: Roma Sapienza University Organising committee: Angelo Arminio, Giovanni Raffa Please write to: giovanni.raffa@uniroma1.it and angelo.arminio@uniroma1.it for full call for papers and deadlines Antiheroic characters have not only embodied a forceful element of rebellion against the status quo, but have also become one of the most prolific and ubiquitous character types in non-literary fiction, to the point of contributing to intertextual awareness (Bruun Vage 2016, p.184) as well as subversively twisting gender-based expectations (Hagelin & Silverman 2022, p. 203). From a linguistic point of view, the figure of the antihero, especially in contemporary texts, raises numerous questions when it comes to its linguistic conformation and its translation. Antiheroes can be recognised as such because of the character’s personality, actions, morality and life choices, but the construction of antiheroic identities also happens by linguistic means (Schubert 2017). Their duality can be made manifest with powerful lexical choices, statements, use of swearings or even the use of peculiar accents or dialects. In turn, these features require effort on the part of the translator, and as the translation process is “the most recognizable type of rewriting” (Lefevere 1992, p. 9), the transfer of antiheroic features can demand creative solutions. The students of the 36th cycle of the PhD Programme in English Literatures, Language and Translation at Sapienza University of Rome invite to engage in a meaningful discussion that revolves around the idea of the antihero in its various forms. Submission deadline for abstracts: 31st January 2024.

Title: “New Trends in English Studies: Evolving Paradigms” Dates: 23-24 April 2024 Place: Enna “Kore” University Scientific and organising committee: Annalisa Bonomo, Vivian M. De La Cruz, Laura Diamanti, Fernanda Verçosa, Paola Clara Leotta, Giuseppina Di Gregorio Please submit your proposals (max 300 words, ref. excluded) to: ntesconf@gmail.com by 10 February 2024, and check the website (up from December 2023) https://ntesconf2024.wixsite.com/kore for full call for papers and other info. The epistemics of English Studies has evolved rapidly in the last few decades, shaped by social and cultural changes, and by advances in technology. This leads to new frameworks in Linguistics, Literature, and Cultural Studies, as well as in Translation Studies, “generating traffic across increasingly unstable disciplinary borders” (Knežević 2016: 153). In particular, they intersect with social, cultural, educational, and environmental issues, and address concerns about ethics and social justice, with regard to the environment, ethnicity, gender identity, education, diaspora, migration, identity navigation, inclusivity, multimodality, etc. In light of these considerations, this conference aims to offer, though in a tentative and non-exhaustive manner, a positive forum for a productive collective reflection on possible future(s) for the discipline. Topics may include, without being restricted to, the following: Translation Studies: Being in the Beyond; Critical and Positive Discourse Analysis; Identities and Cultures in Transition; University Language Centres; Literary Studies in English; Sociolinguistics and Language History; Multilingualism and World English(es); English for Specific Purposes and English for Education; Multimodality and Audiovisual Translation.

Metamorphoses and Fluidity: Ever-Changing Shapes in the Stream of Time Tor Vergata University of Rome 7-8 May, 2024 “Omnia mutantur, nihil interit. Everything changes, nothing perishes” (Ovid, Metamorphoses) “For some reason, the tall, empty room where he was forced to remain made him feel uneasy as he lay there flat on the floor, even though he had been living in it for five years” (Kafka, The Metamorphosis) Prominent theoretical issues and practices in contemporary Western intellectual cultures have made metamorphosis a desirable area for scholarly study, as the topic is frequently juxtaposed or linked with something that is not only “other”. Metamorphosis, however, not only questions the distinctions between the subject and its “other” or between language and nonlanguage; it also raises issues of definition. As a result, many studies focused on the concept of metamorphosis emphasize epistemological and ontological issues pertaining to the subject’s interaction with the outside world and other people as well as the subject’s understanding of both the subject and the outside world. Another topic that has received much attention in recent studies is metamorphosis as a tropological issue. One of the most frequently made assertions regarding the tropological status of metamorphosis is that it draws from a variety of trope categories, particularly metaphor and metonymy, and yet, as a representation of a startling and seemingly miraculous change, it is also capable of playing with the line between the literal and figurative. The paradoxical nature of the metamorphosis theme further exacerbates issues with subjectivity, how it is portrayed in literary characters, and the connection between textuality and knowledge. The fourth edition of the biannual conference organized by the Research Group TrAdE (Translation and Adaptation from/into English) seeks to explore how translation and adaptation deal with ever-changing literary and linguistic shapes in the stream of time. TrAdE’s first conference was focused on words as they move from one linguo-cultural system to another, serving as means for connection and contact. The second conference addressed the issue of contamination and contagion resulting from linguo-cultural contact in Anglophone scenarios. For its third conference, the Research Group delved into alterity in the translation and adaptation of Anglophone (con)texts. The fourth transdisciplinary Conference shall be focused on (but not limited to) the following topics: Metamorphosis/Fluidity in Education and (Social) Media; Metamorphosis/Fluidity in Art(s), Music, Movies and TV Series; Metamorphosis/Fluidity in Language, Literature, Linguistics and Translation; Metamorphosis/Fluidity of Style(s) and Genre(s); Panels/Abstracts Submission Proposals for individual presentations (approximately 200 words) should include the name and contact information of the speaker, their affiliation and a 50-word bionote. Proposals for panels (maximum 500 words) should include the name and contact information of the chairperson, the abstract of each presenter (approximately 200 words) and their bionote. Please send panels and/or individual proposals to: segreteria.trade@gmail.com. Deadline for proposals: December 15, 2023 Notification of acceptance: January 7, 2024 Fees Early bird (before February 7, 2024) = € 60 Standard registration (before May 1, 2024) = € 80 On-site registration will NOT be available. Further info on registration and payment will be posted on TrAdE site in October (https://gruppotrade-2019.uniroma2.it/) Confirmed keynote speakers: Professor Frederic Chaume Varela (Universitat Jaume I, Spain) Professor Cristiano Furiassi (University of Turin, Italy) Download the pdf Scientific Committee Silvia Antosa, Paolo Bugliani, Mehmet Ali Çelikel, Frederic Chaume Varela, Cristiano Furiassi, Daniela Guardamagna, Giulia Magazzù, Bootheina Majoul, Bruna Mancini, Elisabetta Marino, Theodora Patrona, Eriola Qafzezi, Valentina Rossi, Rossana Sebellin, Angela Sileo, Anikó Sohár, Saverio Tomaiuolo. Metamorphoses and Fluidity (OPEN)