Members’ Events

Convegno dottorale: PAROLE, COSE E SIMBOLI TRA ANTICHE E NUOVE RAPPRESENTAZIONI DEL REALE

Nella società di oggi, in bilico tra reale e virtuale, il legame tra parole e cose necessita di essere riesplorato e divenire oggetto di nuove riflessioni. Lingua, letteratura e filosofia contribuiscono a pari merito a definire l’ambito del reale: la lingua concorre a definire la visione del mondo di una comunità di parlanti e allo stesso tempo muta in relazione ai cambiamenti socio-politici e tecnologici; la letteratura contemporanea, come un prisma, continua a rifrangere gli sguardi restituendo un mondo dalle mille sfaccettature; infine la filosofia per sua stessa costituzione si rivolge al reale, determinandolo e delimitandolo, costituendolo e talvolta negandolo, eleggendo la questione del rapporto tra pensiero ed essere a sua autentica domanda guida. Il Convegno interdisciplinare del Dottorato in Studi Umanistici dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo invita alla riflessione intorno ai concetti di percezione, rappresentazione e interpretazione della realtà secondo prospettive linguistiche, letterarie e filosofiche. In ambito linguistico, l’approccio Wörter und Sachen (H. Schuchardt e R. Meringer) nei primissimi anni del ’900 ha impresso agli studi linguistici una svolta decisiva, sostenendo la necessità di non disgiungere, nelle indagini lessicali ed etimologiche, lo studio delle parole da quello delle cose e dei fatti che denotano. Con l’avvento dell’intelligenza artificiale, la lingua è coinvolta in un nuovo spazio: le parole vengono rielaborate da nuovi strumenti informatici dando vita a inedite dimensioni linguistiche fra uomo e macchina, mondo reale e virtuale. Inoltre, la presenza migrante mette in discussione lo spazio linguistico nazionale (De Mauro, 1980), ridefinendo i confini tra spazio urbano, parole, significati e identità. Le “lingue migranti”, infatti, pongono in essere la questione dell’alterità e di come i regimi di mobilità abbiano dato luogo a un nuovo spazio pubblico condiviso, che necessita di nuove strategie comunicative e di integrazione. Anche in ambito educativo vengono a crearsi nuove problematiche relative ai mutamenti linguistici e culturali che la didattica delle lingue deve affrontare, proponendo metodologie inclusive che rispondano alle esigenze degli apprendenti. Seguendo questa prospettiva, si pongono alcuni interrogativi: in che misura la lingua rappresenta una trasposizione del reale nell’immaginario collettivo e quanto incarna la visione del mondo di un determinato gruppo sociale? In che misura la lingua rispecchia l’evoluzione sociale sia nella dimensione orale che in quella scritta? Questi motivi spingono il traduttore, prima di intraprendere la traduzione di un testo dalla lingua source alla lingua cible, a scegliere quale strategia applicare: domestication vs foreignization (Venuti, 1995). A partire da queste sollecitazioni, i contributi da proporre possono esplorare, senza limitarsi ad essi, l’ambito dell’onomastica (nuova e vecchia rappresentazione verbale delle persone e dei luoghi, spazio e collettività); dell’etimologia/lessicografia (vecchi e nuovi modi per rappresentare le cose tra origine del nome e referente etnolinguistico); dell’iconimia (percorsi iconimici, legati a immagini mentali, rappresentazioni linguistiche e simboli); della testualità (lingue analogiche e lingue digitali/AI come trasposizione e orientamento della percezione della realtà); della traduzione e della didattica (metodologie e strategie innovative: come orientarsi e orientare nella contemporaneità); della filologia (analisi contrastive e comparative, diatopiche e cronologiche della rappresentazione del reale). Nel saggio del 1968 dal significativo titolo Effetto di reale, Roland Barthes si interrogava sulle descrizioni in un tessuto narrativo, attribuendo agli oggetti apparentemente privi di significato la funzione di dare una «illusione referenziale». Nella società contemporanea, la questione relativa allo studio simultaneo di parola e cosa rimane controversa in virtù della crescente tendenza alle moltiplicazioni (di senso, di prospettiva, di traiettoria). Se pensiamo ai lavori di Michele Cometa o ai più recenti scritti di Joan Fontcuberta (Contro Barthes. Saggio visivo sull’indice), «coscienti del fatto che la nostra interpretazione è sempre fallibile e che può essere migliorata, corretta, arricchita e rettificata», quello che si apre ai nostri occhi oggi è un mondo nel quale il rapporto uno a uno è soltanto il primo gradino di una lunga scalinata che tende al molteplice e all’ibridazione. Già nel ’49, in un articolo confluito poi in Auto da fé, Montale scriveva che «l’uomo dell’avvenire dovrà nascere fornito di un cervello e di un sistema nervoso del tutto diversi da quelli di cui disponiamo noi, esseri ancora tradizionali, copernicani, classici»: passando per Poema a fumetti di Buzzati, i lavori delle neoavanguardie (Niccolai, Balestrini), le nuove forme di life narratives (Mari, Ernaux, Roth) e di giornalismo (l’incontro tra graphic novel e reportage da Sacco a Zerocalcare) e di saggistica (Pajak, Trevisan), si delinea un caleidoscopio di realtà e di sue rappresentazioni che «si propongono più come una ricerca che come una meta». Con tali premesse, si accettano contributi che esplorino queste poliedriche rappresentazioni del reale nella letteratura italiana e straniera contemporanea e “ipercontemporanea”, sia da un punto di vista teorico che di analisi tematico-formale. Il problema della relazione tra interno ed esterno, rappresentazione e realtà – inizialmente tematizzato nella grecità – emerge in tutta la sua forza nella modernità, nel riassestamento ontoteologico della metafisica, divenendo con Cartesio e Leibniz prima questione fondamentale. Tale questione sopravvive poi alla svolta trascendentale kantiana, che ne risemantizza gli elementi costitutivi, e ciclicamente ritorna: come originaria scissione dello spirito (Fichte, Hegel), inganno primo (Schopenhauer, Nietzsche), epoché fenomenologica (Husserl), mondità (Heidegger), corrispondenza costitutivo-simbolica (Cassirer), reversibilità (Merleau-Ponty). A partire anche da tali suggestioni saranno accettate per la sezione di filosofia proposte che contribuiscano alla riflessione e alla discussione sul tema gettando luce, secondo diverse angolature, sulla questione essenziale dei rapporti tra soggetto-oggetto, coscienza-natura, io-mondo. –––––––––––––––– Il convegno si terrà presso le aule dell’ex Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Palermo (edificio 12, viale delle Scienze) nelle giornate del 3, 4 e 5 Giugno 2024. Gli interessati (dottorandi e dottori di ricerca che abbiano conseguito il titolo da massimo 2 anni) potranno inviare un documento word contenente un abstract di massimo 1000 battute, 5 titoli per la bibliografia di riferimento, recapiti, affiliazione accademica e breve nota biografica (massimo 100 parole) all’indirizzo convegnoparolecose24@gmail.comentro e non oltre il 25.02.2024 specificando nell’oggetto della mail la sezione di riferimento. L’esito della selezione sarà comunicato entro il 15.03.2024. Ogni comunicazione avrà la durata di 20 minuti. È prevista la pubblicazione, in volume, di una selezione dei contributi. Per ulteriori

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CfS: 12th World Shakespeare Congress (July 20 to 26, 2026)

Call for Submissions 12th World Shakespeare Congress July 20 to 26, 2026 The Twelfth World Shakespeare Congress will be held from July 20th to 26th 2026, in Verona. This will be the first time that the WSC has been held in Italy. The International Shakespeare Association invites submissions of proposals for seminars, workshops, and panels engaging some aspect of the congress theme, ‘Planetary Shakespeares’. The Local Committee is chaired by Silvia Bigliazzi and co-chaired by Emanuel Stelzer. This is the website of the WSC: https://www.wsc2026.org/. For more information, click here: https://www.wsc2026.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/MORErev.pdf. The Congress will foster discussion of the many ways in which Shakespeare may be conceived as ‘planetary’, reaching out to resonances with new cultural galaxies of enquiry, debate, and knowledge. It will bridge the Gutenberg print age with the flourishing of humanism and the era of the virtual and the post-human, raising questions about our own understandings of the humanities at a time of manifold crises. In addition, the Congress will provide the occasion for connecting Shakespearean studies and practices to new forms of social awareness and engagement, as well as of innovative takes on our sense of the real. It will offer several areas of debate, emphasising the relation between eco-concerns and the position of the human and post-humanity, in relation to the rise of technology, the digital and the virtual. Proposals for seminars, workshops and panels must be submitted online via the congress website. The deadline for all submissions is 15th September 2024.

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CfP: HOW CAN AI TRANSLATE? University of Naples Federico II (April 22-23, 2024)

 Call for Papers International Conference HOW CAN AI TRANSLATE? University of Naples Federico II April 22-23, 2024 Description The translator’s role, historically contentious and shrouded in controversy, continues to invite criticism from the very origins of translation. In the context of an increasingly globalised world, a critical examination regarding the elusive and unidentifiable role and identity of translators has long been underway (Cavaliere, 2021). Ethical dilemmas persist, centring on the translator’s (in)visibility(Venuti, 2018). Shouldthe translator adopt a domesticating approach, seamlessly assimilating into the target language, making the translated work indistinguishable? Or, on the contrary, should the translator inject foreign flavours, challenging the norms of the target language? Centuries of debates echo, and the ‘deforming tendencies’within translation fabric remain unresolved (Berman, 2021). Positionality(Munday et al., 2022) raises its own set of questions: the notion of translators as neutral communicators is challenged, with some deeming the infusion of ideologies as potentially manipulative, while others, like Tymoczko (2003), assert that translators are active participants in communication. To what extent is it ethical for translators to interject personal convictions and ideologies into the target text? Against the backdrop of ongoing cultural exchanges, linguistic diversity, and global phenomena such as trade, migration, and human rights standards, the demand for translators has surged. However, this upswing is accompanied by challenges, including the imperative to minimise translation costs and a widespread lack of awareness regarding the significance of the translation profession (Lambert & Walker, 2022). Complicating matters further is the engagement of untrained individuals from disparate fields, suchas marketing, finance, business, and education, in translation responsibilities. In addition, the digital age presents challenges in translation with Computer-Assisted Translation (CAT) and Machine Translation (MT), sparking debates on their impact (Hartley, 2009; Dunne & Dunne, 2011; Jiménez-Crespo, 2013). Tools such as Translation Memory (TM) enhance efficiency, and the ascent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), exemplified by ChatGPT, raises questions, fostering discussions on the ‘human-like’quality of machine-translated texts and distinctions between Human Translation (HT) and MT. The development of CAT, MT, and TM tools relies on corpus-based methods, providingempirical linguistic evidence as well assupplyingquantitative data and rigour that intuition alone cannot attain. In view of this, corpus-assisted strategies, first advocated by Sinclair (1987), constitute a relatively new instrument in the world of translation, thus signifyinga “new paradigm in translation studies” (Laviosa, 1998). The alignment of source and target text in parallel/comparablecorpora enables to contrastan original text againstits translated counterpart, offeringvaluable insights into the varied ways in which distinct linguistic communities articulate and interpret the same underlying discursive phenomenon. In light of the issues hitherto raised, the conference aims to investigatehow contemporary translation can navigate the intricate intersection of ethical considerations, digital advancements and the evolving demands of a globalised world to redefine the boundaries anditsimpact on cross-linguistic communication. This call for papers extends an invitation for contributions spanning a wide array of themes, including, but not limited to: Submission of abstracts Authors wishing to submit their contribution are invited to send an abstract of their proposed paper of no more than 3 50 words (excluding references) in MS Word format by 1 st March 2024 to aitransconf24@gmail.com Flavia Cavaliere fcavalie@unina.it )), Luisa Marino luisa.marino@unina.it and Fabio Cangero fabio.cangero@unina.it Important dates Deadline for abstracts: March 1 , 2024 Notification of acceptance: March 15, 2024 Conference dates: April 22-23, 2024 Submission Guidelines Proposals must exhibit a clear and organi s ed structure, featuring theoretical and methodolog ical contributions that emphasi s e the innovative elements of the proposed research. Analyses should distinctly outline the objectives , materials, theoretical and methodological approach ( and anticipated outcomes. The APA citation style should be employed for references. Electronicsubmissions are to be sent adopting the template provided via email to aitransconf24@gmail.com, fcavalie@unina.it  luisa.marino@unina.it and fabio.cangero@unina.it , accompanied by a cover letter detailing the author s name, affiliation, contact information and contribution title. Scientific Committee Lucia Abbamonte (University of Naples Parthenope) Raffaella Antinucci (University of Naples Parthenope) Giuseppe Balirano (University of Naples L’Orientale) Flavia Cavaliere (University of Naples Federico II) Delia Chiaro (University of Bologna) Jorge Diaz Cintas (University College London UK) David Katan (University of Lecce) Silvia Osman (University of Bucharest) Irene Ranzato (Sapienza University of Rome) Maria Grazia Sindoni (University of Messina) Tania Zulli (“G. D’Annunzio” University of Chieti-Pescara) Organising Committee Fabio Cangero (University of Naples Federico II) Paolo Donadio (University of Naples Federico II) Federico Gaspari (University of Naples Federico II) Walter Giordano (University of Naples Federico II) Luisa Marino (University of Naples Federico II) Cristina Pennarola (University of Naples Federico II) Sole Alba Zollo (University of Naples Federico II) References Berman, A., 2021, Translation and the Trials of the Foreign, translated by Venuti, L., in Venuti, L. (ed.) The Translation Studies Reader, 4th edition, Routledge: London and New York, pp. 247-60. Cavaliere, F., 2021, “L’Identità del Traduttore: Una, Nessuna, Centomila”, in Traduttologia: Rivista di Interpretazione e Traduzione, vol. 12, n. 23–24, pp. 45–75. Dunne, K., Dunne. E., 2011, Translation and Localization Project Management: The Art of the Possible , Amsterdam and Philadelphia, PA: John. Hartley, A., 2009, Technology and Translation, in Munday, J. (ed.) The Routledge Companion to Translation Studies, Abingdon and New York: Routledge, pp. 106 27. Jiménez Crespo, M., 2013, Translation and Web Localization, London and New York: Lambert, J., Walker, C. 2022, “Because Were Worth It: Disentangling Freelance Translation, Status, and Rate Setting in the United Kingdom”, in Translation Spaces, vol. 11, n. 2, pp. 277 302. Laviosa, S., 1998, “The Corpus Based Approach: A New Paradigm in Translation Studies”, in Meta, vol. 13, n. 4, pp. 474- 9. Munday, J., Pinto, S. R., Blakesley, J., 2022, Introducing Translation Studies: Theories And Applications, London and New York: Sinclair, J., 1987, Looking Up: An Account of the COBUILD Project in Lexical Computing, London: Collins. Tymoczko, M., 2003, Ideology and the Position of the Translator: In What Sense is a Translator “in between”?, in Pérez, M. C., (ed.) Apropos of Ideology: Translation Studies on Ideologies in Translation Studies, pp. 181 201. Venuti, L., 2018, The Translator’s Invisibility: A History of Translation, London

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Macbeth: History, Tragedy, Opera and Accessibility – Sapienza Università di Roma. 23 January 2024

Dear all, We are pleased to announce the third event related to this year’s seminars, featuring Prof. Elena Di Giovanni (University of Macerata) and Stefania Laura (Sovrintendenza Teatro La Scala di Milano) with a presentation titled “Macbeth: History, Tragedy, Opera and Accessibility.” You are all invited to participate in person (Room 104, Marco Polo building, please see the attached poster) or online via the following Zoom link: https://uniroma1.zoom.us/j/86512044770 on Tuesday, January 23rd at 4:00 PM CET. Further info in the poster attached. The steering committee. Donatella Montini Andrea Peghinelli Fabio Ciambella Carmen Gallo 

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Forms and Practices of Resistance and Coexistence in Literature, Linguistics and Translation

CALL FOR PAPERS Conference 2024 of the PhD in Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, University of Bologna FORMS AND PRACTICES OF RESISTANCE AND COEXISTENCE IN LITERATURE, LINGUISTICS AND TRANSLATION 6th-7th JUNE2024 DEADLINES Deadline for submission of abstracts: 10th March 2024 Notification of acceptance: 10th April 2024 Conference: 6th and 7th June 2024 USEFUL INFORMATION Submit your abstract to lilec.graduateconference@unibo.it Languages of the conference: Italian or English. Length of presentation: 20 minutes. Both individual and group presentations are accepted. INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE SUBMISSION Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words. Short biographical note of 150 words. Name the file indicating the subject area and your name, e.g.: “LINGUISTICS_FIRSTNAMELASTNAME”. “To recognise fireflies, one must see them in the moment of their survival: one must see them dancing alive in the dead of night, even if that night is swept away by some fierce spotlight. And even if it is brief. And even if there is little to see: it takes almost five thousand fireflies to produce a light equal to that of a single candle.” (Didi-Huberman 2009 [2010] p.33). There can be small, marginal and imperceptible practices of resistance that, while retaining their strength and uniqueness, free themselves from the dominant discourse. They are resistances that, going beyond the conflictual relationship, establish a space of shared dialogue, and in the making: a coexistence. In the wake of Michel Foucault’s thoughts, we will focus on resistances that do not exist outside power, but coexist with it in order to transform it. Resistances do not exhaust themselves in simple forms of dissent or opposition, but represent a form of non-subjection to power, tracing an alternative path. Various literary forms can be instruments of resistance to power through deep social critique and the promotion of marginalised voices and perspectives. Language and linguistic choices also play a fundamental role as instruments through which identity claims, power relations, and various forms of dissent are conveyed; in this sense, language becomes an arena of symbolic struggle. In translation, the role of translators is dynamic and non-neutral. They not only connect cultures but also actively spread and advocate specific narratives, contributing to the shaping and spreading of ideas, social, and political models. This conference aims to explore how literature, linguistics, and translation contribute to developing practices of resistance and coexistence in the contemporary era. In this regard, we welcome contributions that explore innovative methodologies and viewpoints in literary criticism, linguistic and translation analysis, fostering a more profound comprehension of the intricate intersections among literature, language, and acts of resistance.

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CfP: Queer Kinship: Affects, Families, Bonds – Siena (9-10 April 2024)

Queer Kinship: Affects, Families, BondsUniversity for Foreigners of Siena9-10 April 2024 In recent decades, critical, cultural, political and legal discourses on the family have undergone significant shifts leading to new perspectives on the ways in which societies conceive of, recognise and experience affective bonds. New legislation, such as civil partnerships, same-sex marriages and increased access to technologies of reproduction, have enabled new family forms to be established and legitimised. Cultural representation of these new families has increased their visibility and shone new light on “alternative” affective forms of co-existence. However, the queer family is not a new phenomenon, and many modalities of queer kinship, beyond legal family structures, or the pervasive norm of the ‘couple’, have existed for a considerable time: these include, for example, so-called romantic friendships, Boston marriages, polyamorous communities, queer kinship groups, fillus de anima and many other different forms of affective ties that may change across the life course. Due to discrepancies in law and problematic socio-cultural attitudes, certain forms of queer kinship, or kinships between certain individuals, are more culturally accepted and officially recognised than others, resulting in intersectional discrimination. While there is a significant body of academic work that explores some of these questions from a sociological, anthropological and legal perspective, as yet there is little sustained analysis of the developing cultural discourses and representation both in individual contexts and across national linguistic and social contexts. The transcultural and transnational circulation of discourses on queer families and kinship has yet to be fully assessed and investigated. A deeper understanding of these cultural discourses, in relation to their socio-cultural, political and legal context, is crucial to improving our awareness of the experiences, knowledge, innovative practices and wellbeing of those who choose to diverge from the script of the heteronormative family. This international conference aims to open up a space for critical debate on these issues and to develop interdisciplinary scholarly networks. It is the first of three conferences on this theme that will be held in 2024-2025, in Siena (Italy), Birmingham (UK) and Toronto (CA). The three conferences constitute different stages of a research project on affective bonds and queer families from an inter- and transdisciplinary perspective, which seeks to identify emerging trends in cultural representation, and to develop new methodologies for analysing socio-cultural and discursive phenomena in a plural, multicultural and inclusive optic. The main focus for this conference will be cultural texts and discourses, from the late 19th century onwards. The conference will lead to the publication of an edited volume in English with an international publisher. Themes for discussion include (but are not limited to): Same-sex, trans or non-binary parents and technologies of reproduction; Queer parenting and its impact on gender roles and cultural norms; LGBTQ+ children’s experiences within the family structure; Queer kinship beyond the couple norm; Childless adults and their affective ties; Queer communities; Polyamory; The impact of racialisation on queer families and communities; Multigenerational kinship; The relationship between different textual genres, e.g. novels, memoirs, self-help books, YouTube channels, films; Critical and theoretical discourses on queer families and related issues; Intercultural and interlinguistic translations and transpositions of queer kinship. Confirmed plenary speakers are: Prof. Simonetta Grilli (University di Siena) Prof. Maria Federica Moscati (University of Sussex) Prof. Nicoletta Vallorani (University of Milan)   Please submit a 250-word abstract plus a brief bio (max 100 words) by 29th February 2024 via this form: https://forms.gle/Jz1JYCNX5i1HiasL9 For any information, please contact Silvia Antosa: silvia.antosa@unistrasi.it Speakers will receive a notification of confirmation by March 5th 2024. The languages of the conference will be English and Italian. There will be no conference fees. This is an in-person event.   Conference organising committee: Silvia Antosa (University for Foreigners of Siena, Italy) Paolo Frascà (University of Toronto, CA) Charlotte Ross (University of Birmingham, UK)   Essential Bibliography: Sarah Ahmed, Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others, Duke University Press, Durham, 2006. Sarah Ahmed, The Promise of Happiness, Duke University Press, Durham, 2010.  Judith Butler, “Is Kinship Always Already Heterosexual?”, Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies, XIII, 1 (2002), pp. 14-44. Judith Butler, Undoing Gender, Routledge, New York-London 2004. Lisa Duggan, “The New Homonormativity: The Sexual Politics of Neoliberalism”, in Russ Castronovo and Dana D. Nelson, Materializing Democracy: Toward a Revitalized Cultural Politics, Duke University Press, Durham 2002, p. 175-194. Lee Edelman, No Future: Queer Theory and the Death Drive, Duke University Press, Durham 2004.    David L. Eng, The Feeling of Kinship: Queer Liberalism and the Racialization of Intimacy, Duke University Press, Durham 2010. Elizabeth Freeman and Tyler Bradway (eds), Queer Kinship: Race, Sex, Belonging, Form, Duke University Press 2022. Jacqui Gabb and Janet Fink, Couple Relationships in the 21st Century, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan 2015. Susan Golombok, Modern Families: Parents and Children in New Family Forms, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2015. Robert E. Goss, Amy Adams Squire Strongheat (eds), Our Families, Our Values: Snapshots of Queer Kinship, Harrington Park Press, New York 1997. Roberto Kulpa, Joanna Mizielinska, Agata Stasińska, “(Un)Translatable queer? Or what is lost, and can be found in translation”, in Sushila Mesquita et al. (eds), IMPORT – EXPORT –TRANSPORT. Queer Theory, Queer Critique and Activism in Motion, Zaglossus, Vienna 2012, pp. 115–147. James Heckert et al. (eds), Mapping Intimacies: Relations, Exchanges, Affects, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2013. Stephen Hicks, Lesbian, Gay and Queer Parenting: Families, Intimacies, Genealogies, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2011. Valerie Lehr, Queer Family Values: Debunking the Myth of the Nuclear Family, Temple University Press, Philadelphia 1999.  Laura McKenzie, Age-Dissimilar Couples and Romantic Relationships: Ageless Love?, Palgrave Macmillan, Basingstoke 2015. Joanna Mizielinska, Jacqui Gabb and Agata Stasinska (eds), Queer Kinship and Relationships, Special issue of Sexualities, XXI, 7 (2018). Jasbir Puar, Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times, Duke University Press, Durham 2007. Sasha Roseneil, Isabel Crowhurst, Tone Hellesund, Ana Cristina Santos, and Mariya Stoilova (eds), The Tenacity of the Couple-Norm: Intimate Citizenship Regimes in a Changing Europe, London, UCL Press 2020. David Schneider, American Kinship: A Cultural Account, University of Chicago Press, Chicago 1968. David Schneider, A Critique of the Study of Kinship, University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor 1984.    Thomas Strong, “Kinship Between Judith Butler and Anthropology? A Review Essay”, Ethnos, LXVII, 3 (2002), pp. 401-418. Warren Shapiro, “The Old Kinship Studies Confronts Gay Kinship: A Critique of Kath Weston”, Anthropological Forum, XX, 1 (2010), pp. 1-18. Kath Weston (ed.) Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship, Columbia University Press, New York 1991.

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WINTER SCHOOL in Translation Studies: “Translation Today: Technology, Trust and the Role of the Translator”

WINTER SCHOOL in Translation Studies: “Translation Today: Technology, Trust and the Role of the Translator” Dates: 11th-15th December 2023 Place: Ca’ Foscari University, Venice Please check: https://www.unive.it/pag/44649/ for further information Translators need to adapt to new technology in the translation market, like computer-aided tools, machine translation and AI. But how much should we rely on technology versus human skills? The Winter School aims to answer questions relating to technological advancements, creativity and ethical issues in translation by offering practical activities and lectures in 30 academic hours. The event, organised by Ca’ Foscari University, will feature guest speakers Giuliana Garzone (IULM University), Anthony Pym (University of Melbourne and Rovira I Virgili University) Silvia Bernardini and Adriano Ferraresi (University of Bologna, Forlì), David Katan (University of Salento), Giulia Togato and Adrià Martin-Mor (State University of California Long Beach). Further information: https://www.unive.it/pag/44649/

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“Metamorphoses and Fluidity: Ever-Changing Shapes in the Stream of Time”

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).

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“The Travelling Self: Tourism and Life-Writing in Eighteenth-Century Europe”

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.

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“A Foil to the Hero: Antiheroic Characters in Language, Literature, and Translation”

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.

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