News

CALL FOR PAPERS: “Voices Across Water: From the Sirena Parthenope to Hydronarratives”

Members' Events, News /

1st Graduate Conference of the PhD Programme in Linguistic, Terminological and Intercultural StudiesSeptember 25th, 2025Parthenope University of Naples Parthenope University of Naples proudly invites PhD students to participate in the 1st Graduate Conference of the PhD Programme in Linguistic, Terminological and Intercultural Studies, “Voices Across Water: From the Sirena Parthenope to Hydronarratives”, on September 25th, 2025. The conference seeks to explore the profound impact of water as a central theme across diverse literary, linguistic and cultural domains. Given the inherent maritime connection uniting our SEA-EU alliance, we encourage submissions that critically examine the role of water in shaping narratives in Italian, English, French and Spanish. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches and innovative perspectives that illuminate the evolving landscapes of hydronarratives.Please check out the conference website [https://www.graduateconferenceparthenope.it] for the complete Call for Papers, submission guidelines and important deadlines. We look forward to welcoming you to this unique event, celebrating our maritime heritage!

CALL FOR PAPERS: “Voices Across Water: From the Sirena Parthenope to Hydronarratives” Read More »

Numero speciale della rivista LEA – Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente

News /

Siamo lieti di comunicarvi che è stato appena pubblicato il numero speciale della rivista LEA – Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente ( https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-lea), diretta da Ilaria Natali, dedicato a Literary and Linguistic Perspectives on Healthcare and Disease: Themes and Trends from the Eighteenth Century to the Present. Il progetto si pone in continuità con Textus 3/2024 e raccoglie saggi che, per mere ragioni di spazio, non avevano potuto trovare accoglienza in quella sede. Il numero speciale è diretto da Ilaria Natali, Girolamo Tessuto, Clark Lawlor e Annalisa Federici. Il numero di LEA è consultabile al seguente link: https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/bsfm-lea/issue/view/682 LEA rimane aperta a proposte provenienti dall’intera comunità di studiose e studiosi del macrosettore, con l’auspicio di continuare a offrire uno spazio di confronto e crescita condivisa.

Numero speciale della rivista LEA – Lingue e Letterature d’Oriente e d’Occidente Read More »

Call for Papers – XXVIII International Conference of O&L

Members' Events, News /

Potenza 24-26 September 2025The XXVIII International Conference of O&L will take place at the University of Basilicata. The conference will be held in the Aula Magna of the Francioso Campus and in the Hall of the National Archaeological Museum of Basilicata Dinu Adamesteanu, Potenza. Additionally, on September 27, a visit will be organized to the Sassi of Matera, which were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993. The detailed program of the visit and the registration procedures will be provided to interested participants. The Conference will focus on the following topics:The names of ‘villains’ (antagonists and negative characters).The relevance of the names of literary ‘villains’ and/or ‘antagonists’ is already evident when we consider a peculiar linguistic phenomenon: many of them have become so famous that they have turned into antonomasies, or even lexicalized into deonyms. Among those attested in the lexical heritage of Italian and its dialects, one could think, for example, of ‘Ganelon / Gano di Maganza,’ which has become synonymous with ‘traitor’ (alongside ‘giuda’), also appearing with the epithet ‘(treacherous) Maganzese’. Beyond this, other purely literary cases can be listed within the same domain, which have already been studied by critics, such as the names of the devils Malebranche in Dante’s Divine Comedy and those of the Shakespearean theatrical characters Macbeth, Shylock, Iago, or the Molière character Tartuffe, may be counted in the same sphere. The name in autobiographical writingsIn autobiography, understood as a literary form, there is an onomastic identity between the author, narrator, and protagonist, which refers to the same entity. The enunciation of the name of the authornarrator-protagonist, therefore, constitutes a key element for reading, capable of guiding the reader’s interpretative cooperation and the process of meaning-making within the work. However, the enunciation of the nominal identity of the one who takes the floor rarely appears within the text, while it is often displayed in the paratext. The narrator who designates himself with a first-person pronoun, therefore, does not have a name, and yet, as Roland Barthes emphasizes, that pronoun, in the narrative, becomes an anthroponym, unless the narrator leaves some onomastic trace within the text. Equally significant are the procedures that affect the names of other characters involved in autobiographical writings, which may, for example, be subject to various kinds of omissions, because they are hidden by anonymity or disguised through substitute names. The same ambivalent attitude may also involve the names of the places where the action is set. Therefore, this section could include all investigations aimed at detecting and revealing the often unsuspected autobiographical resonances hidden behind the onomastics of a text. Anthropological foundations of the name: taboo, apotropaic or magical namesIt is well known that in Le Conte du Graal by Chrétien de Troyes, the reader (and the character who bears the name) comes to know the protagonist’s name only at a very advanced stage of the poem: the revelation assumes an initiatory value, reaching the peak of a difficult process of self-knowledge. The Kretienian ‘taboo of the name’ is certainly not the only example where a literary name seems to regain the magical and apotropaic significance, with complex anthropological meanings, traces of which were widespread and profound in primitive onomastics, and which also characterized the prohibition of pronouncing the divine Tetragrammaton in Jewish tradition. However, in this section, which could also be titled, playing on Freud’s words, Nomen and tabù, one could certainly include other well-known cases seen from different perspectives, such as that of the Erinyes, often referred to by the apotropaic name Eumenides (as in Aeschylus’s tragedy or in the title of the famous novel by Jonathan Littell, Les Bienveillantes, which mirrors the same mythological model of the persecution of Orestes by the Erinyes); or famous literary examples, such as the case of the figure of the Innominato in Manzoni’s novel, struck by a sort of interdiction that evokes the previously mentioned prohibition of pronouncing the divine name. Cases of autonymy: when a character assigns themselves a name, a nickname, or a pseudonymAmong the cases in which a literary character is compelled, for various reasons, to re-name themselves, the first examples that come to mind are certainly classic ones, such as Alonso Quijano / Don Quixote, Jekyll / Hyde, or, in twentieth-century Italian literature, Mattia Pascal / Adriano Meis. Beyond this specific corpus, however, other forms of autonymy can be found, even if seemingly less striking, such as those of the Decameron characters, who assume different onomastic forms from their official names during various disguises: from Tebaldo degli Elisei / Filippo di San Lodeccio to Lodovico / Anichino, or, with a change of gender, Madonna Zinevra / Sicuran da Finale. To mention a twentieth-century example, one can think of the programmatic battle names that partisans give themselves in post-World War II stories. But other types can also be suggested. One involves the author themselves when they, to some extent, take on a substitute name, either to hide or, conversely, to showcase a particular authorial stance. One thinks of the kaleidoscopic array of heteronyms by Pessoa, but also more unsuspected cases, such as that of Luzi, who in some collections hints at himself under real names and profiles like Simone Martini. Also, in the realm of authorial posture, one can cite the self-deprecating, diminutive autonyms, with a programmatically self-ironic and reductive intent, such as ‘guidogozzano’. Submerged Lucanità: Onomastic Explorations from Rocco Scotellaro to Gaetano CappelliThe occasion of the conference in Potenza offers numerous onomastic insights not only for the general ‘anniversary section’ but also for the more specific literary production of Lucanian authors. This year, in particular, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Carlo Levi, whose Christ Stopped at Eboli (it is needless to emphasize its significance in the history of Basilicata) reveals a complex relationship between reality and invention, particularly within the onomastic fiction. Additionally, the onomastic choices of Lucanian poets and writers, which draw from the reality of the so-called peasant civilization, are still underexplored but certainly worth investigating. These include Rocco

Call for Papers – XXVIII International Conference of O&L Read More »

International Journal of Language Studies – Call for Papers: Shaping Value, Crafting Identity: Promotional and Identity-Building Strategies in Jewellery and Goldsmithing Businesses

Journal's CfPs, News /

Editors: Emilia Di Martino (Università di Napoli Suor Orsola Benincasa), Antonella Napolitano(Università di Napoli L’Orientale)We are pleased to invite contributions to a Special Issue of the International Journal of LanguageStudies (IJLS) dedicated to exploring the landscape of promotional and identity-building strategies inthe jewellery and goldsmithing industries. This Special Issue aims to bring together interdisciplinaryperspectives on how firms in these sectors construct and communicate their brand identities, craftnarratives of value, and engage with diverse audiences in an increasingly competitive global market.In an era of digital transformation and growing consumer consciousness, jewellery and goldsmithingbusinesses face both challenges and opportunities in articulating their heritage, luxury, andauthenticity. Through a critical lens, this Special Issue welcomes contributions that examine theinterplay of language, visual rhetoric, and cultural symbolism in shaping brand narratives andinfluencing consumer perceptions. We particularly encourage submissions that draw on CriticalDiscourse Analysis, semiotics, and narrative studies to explore the mechanisms of meaning-makingin promotional discourse.We invite scholars, business professionals, and practitioners from a range of disciplines—includingmarketing, communication, cultural studies, design, business management, and art history—to submitpapers addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:▪ Brand Identity and Heritage: How historical narratives, artisanal craftsmanship, and culturallegacies are mobilized through specific discursive practices to create distinctive brandidentities.▪ Visual and Aesthetic Communication: The role of design, photography, digital imagery, andmultimedia storytelling in constructing and negotiating brand narratives.▪ Luxury Branding and Value Perception: The linguistic and visual strategies that communicateexclusivity, authenticity, prestige, and value in the luxury market.▪ Digital Transformation: The impact of social media, e-commerce, and digital marketing onthe evolution of promotional discourse and consumer engagement.▪ Sustainability and Ethical Practices: How brands articulate corporate social responsibility,ethical sourcing, and sustainability within their promotional narratives, and how these shapepublic perceptions.▪ Consumer Engagement: The use of storytelling, influencer collaborations, and experientialmarketing as strategic tools for fostering dynamic interactions with audiences.▪ Cross-Cultural Branding: Strategies for maintaining brand coherence while adaptingpromotional narratives across diverse cultural and international markets.Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words outlining the focus, methodology, and key arguments ofyour proposed paper. Include a 150-word bio highlighting your academic background, professionalexperience, and relevant publications.Abstract Submission Deadline: 15 April 2025Notification of Acceptance: 30 April 2025Full Paper Submission: 15 August 2025Please send your abstracts and biographical notes to emilia.dimartino@unisob.na.it andanapolitano@unior.it with the subject line “CFP Submission: Shaping Value, Crafting Identity.”ReferencesBhatia, V. (2008). Generic patterns in promotional discourse. In Persuasion across genres: Alinguistic approach (pp. 213-225). John Benjamins Publishing Company.Cappellieri, A. (2020). Jewellery between product and experience: Luxury in the Twenty-Firstcentury. In L. Tenuta, S. Testa, A. Cappellieri, Sustainable Luxury and Craftsmanship.Springer, 1-30.Cappellieri, A. (2021). Diva! Il Glamour Italiano nel Gioiello Moda. SilvanaEditoriale.Caves, R. E. (2000). Creative industries: Contracts between art and commerce. Harvard University.Holt, D. B. (2002). Why do brands cause trouble? A dialectical theory of consumer culture andbranding. Journal of consumer research, 29(1), 70-90.Dlaske, K. (2015). Discourse matters: Localness as a source of authenticity in craft businesses inperipheral minority language sites. Critical Approaches to Discourse Analysis acrossDisciplines, 7(2).Kapferer, J. N. (2014). The artification of luxury: From artisans to artists. Business horizons, 57(3),371-380.Kapferer, J. N. (2012). The luxury strategy: Break the rules of marketing to build luxurybrands. Hogan Page.Ko, E., Costello, J. P., & Taylor, C. R. (2019). What is a luxury brand? A new definition and reviewof the literature. Journal of Business Research, 99, 405-413.Koller, V. (2009). Brand images: Multimodal metaphor in corporate branding messages. Multimodalmetaphor, 11, 45-72.Lazazzera, M. (2024). Six trends shaping the jewellery industry now. Vogue Business. November 4,2024.Lury, C. (2004). Brands: The logos of the global economy. Routledge.Okonkwo, U. (2010). Luxury Online: Styles, Systems, Strategies. Palgrave Macmillan.Truong, Y., McColl, R., & Kitchen, P. J. (2009). New luxury brand positioning and the emergenceof masstige brands. Journal of Brand Management, 16(5), 375-382.

International Journal of Language Studies – Call for Papers: Shaping Value, Crafting Identity: Promotional and Identity-Building Strategies in Jewellery and Goldsmithing Businesses Read More »

Giornate di studio su “(De)Constructing/Negotiating Identity through Language and Translation”

Members' Events, News /

Organizzate da Ester Gendusa, Alessandra Rizzo e Marianna Lya Zummo 31 marzo 2025 Ore 8.00 – 10.00 Aula 3 – Edificio 19 Viale delle Scienze – Palermo Saluti istituzionali: Prof.ssa Concetta Giliberto Direttrice Dipartimento di Scienze Umanistiche Stefania Maci Professoressa ordinaria di Lingua e traduzione inglese – Università degli Studi di Bergamo From Mansplaining to Revenge Porn: A Discourse Analysis Perspective 15 maggio 2025 Ore 8.00 – 10.00 Aula Magna Complesso monumentale Sant’Antonino – Palermo Saluti istituzionali: Prof.ssa Maria Grazia Sciortino Coordinatrice CdS in Lingue e letterature David Mark Katan Professore ordinario di Lingua e traduzione inglese Università del Salento Translating the Iceberg of Culture Comitato scientifico: Ester Gendusa, Alessandra Rizzo, Marianna Lya Zummo

Giornate di studio su “(De)Constructing/Negotiating Identity through Language and Translation” Read More »

International MA Programme in Accessibility to Media, Arts, and Culture (AMAC), University of Macerata – Applications Open

News /

Now in its fourth edition, AMAC offers internationally oriented training for professionals in accessibility across media, arts, and culture. This year, the programme introduces a brand new module: Training Accessibility Managers, equipping students with the expertise to develop and implement accessibility strategies. AMAC also prepares students for careers as consultants for media and cultural events, inclusive design coordinators, and specialists in audio description, interlingual subtitling, easy-to-read language, sign language, and more.The programme includes online classes, workshops, and dedicated lectures, offering both theoretical and practical training. Students also have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience through work placements and project work. Courses are delivered in English, with practical activities in both English and Italian. 📄 Learn more: Brochure https://masteramac.unimc.it/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/EN_brochure-AMAC.pdf 🌍 Apply now: Website https://masteramac.unimc.it/

International MA Programme in Accessibility to Media, Arts, and Culture (AMAC), University of Macerata – Applications Open Read More »

Call for abstracts Textus 3/2026 – CROSS-DISCIPLINARY ISSUE

News, Textus current CfP /

Voices Across Borders: Reframing the Barriers of Vulnerability in Language, Culture, and Literature Guest co-editors: Gaetano Falco (Università degli Studi di Bari “Aldo Moro”) Elena Spandri (Università degli Studi di Siena) Jun Pan (Hong Kong Baptist University) Copyeditor: Eileen Mulligan (University of Bari) In an increasingly hostile transnational political climate and environment, where current sweeping policy-making bodies demonize notions and practices of diversity, equity, and inclusion, fostering division within and between societies, nation-states, and cultures, the need to encourage inclusive dialogue in academic research has never been more pressing. By reframing the barriers of vulnerability in all its forms—whether linguistic, cultural, social, and digital, or in their literary representation— this issue of Textus intends to construct a comprehensive and vibrant space for scholarly investigation and social change, encouraging interdisciplinary conversation. Vulnerability is a concept that usually implies the related ideas of fragility, inequity, and risk, but is also associated with resilience, empowerment and resistance (Butler 2014). It “is a concept with fleeting contours as much as it is an idea with assured academic success” (Ferrarese 2016:149). As such, it is characterized by indeterminacy and variability, which accounts for the current, “increasingly multidisciplinary interest in the topic.” (Nungesser and Schirgi 2024: 252). Over the last decades, the notion has gained the attention of various research areas, both embracing and articulating its conceptual boundaries, as the idea itself has been subject to reconceptualization in the field of international human rights law (Morawa 2003). The call for Voices Across Borders offers itself to multiple inflections, showcasing the need for change and empowerment as a key quality that underlies recent developments in the fields of – amongst others – (critical) discourse analysis, literary studies, cultural studies, (critical) disability studies, gender studies, environmental studies, migration, border discourse and cultural mediation, and museum studies. Among the possible angles, one may consider for instance exploring the pliability of the novel form to contemporary ‘humanitarian imaginary’ in the current context marked by a pervasive condition of conflict, the massive experience of vulnerability and mediatic exposure to violence (Ganguly 2016). Another option may be to consider the dual role of language as both a barrier and a bridge across various fields, including translation and communication (Davies 2012); or, as a resource for inclusion and a cause of exclusion of vulnerable groups, ranging from migrants to refugees and asylum seekers (Schrover and Schinkel, 2013), to women and LGBTQI+ people (Jones 2023). The papers selected will ideally address the core topic from either theoretical or applied and text-focussed perspectives, in literature, linguistics, and cultural studies, including discussion of best practices in teaching and other professional experiences. References Antinucci, Raffaella, and Adrian Grafe (eds.). Vulnerability and Resilience in English Literature of the Long Nineteenth Century (McFarland, 2024). Bonacchi, Silvia, ed. Vulnerability: Real, Imagined, and Displayed Fragility in Language and Society. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht unipress, 2024. Butler, Judith. “Introduction: On Linguistic Vulnerability.” In Excitable Speech: A Politics of the Performative. New York: Routledge, 1997: 1-42. Butler, Judith. “Rethinking Vulnerability and Resistance.” In Judith Butler, Zeynep Gambetti, and Leticia Sabsay (ed. by), Vulnerability in Resistance, Duke UP, 2016, pp.12-27. Butler, Judith, Precarious Lives: The Powers of Mourning and Violence (Verso, 2006). Cunningham, Clare, and Christopher J. Hall, eds. Vulnerabilities, Challenges and Risks in Applied Linguistics. Bristol: Multilingual Matters, 2021. Davies, Eirlys E. “Translation and Intercultural Communication: Bridges and Barriers.” In C. B. Paulston, S. F. Kiesling, & E. S. Rangel (Eds.), The Handbook of Intercultural Discourse and Communication. Wiley-Blackwell 2012, pp. 367–387. De Vogli R., Lusiardi M. (2024) “The Ecological Crisis and Human Rights: Why We Are All Vulnerable ” Peace Human Rights Governance, 8(1), 135-152. Ferrarese, Estelle. “Vulnerability: A Concept with Which to Undo the World As It Is?”. Critical Horizons, 17, 2 (2016): 149-159. https://doi.org/10.1080/14409917.2016.1153885 Fernández-Santiago, Miriam, and Cristina M. Gámez- Fernández (eds.). Representing Vulnerabilities in Contemporary Literature (Routledge, 2022). Ganassin, Sara, Alexandra Georgiou, Judith Reynolds, and Mohammed Ateek. 2024. “Vulnerability and Multilingualism in Intercultural Research with Migrants: Developing an Inclusive Research Practice.” Language and Intercultural Communication 24 (5): 385–93. doi:10.1080/14708477.2024.2411083. Ganguly, Debjani, This Thing Called the World. The Contemporary Novel as Global Form (Duke UP, 2016). Ganteau, Jean Michel. The Ethics and Aesthetics of Vulnerability in Contemporary British Fiction (Routledge, 2015). Giladi, Paul, and Petherbridge, Danielle. “The Vulnerable Dynamics of Discourse”. Royal Institute of Philosophy Supplement. 2021: 195-225. doi:10.1017/S1358246121000151 Heikkilä, Mikaela, and Maija Mustaniemi-Laakso. “Introduction: Approaches to Vulnerability in Times of Crisis.” Human Rights Review (2023) 24:151–170. Jones, Lucy, “Language, gender and sexuality in 2022”, Gender and Language, 17, 2 (2023): 1-18. Lewis, Hannah, Precarious Lives: Forced Labour, Exploitation and Asylum (Policy Press, 2014). Morawa, Alexander E., “Vulnerability as a Concept of International Human Rights Law”, Journal of International Relations and Development 6, 2 (June 2003): 139-155. Nixon, Rob, Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor (Harvard UP, 2011). Nungesser, Frithjof, and Antonia Schirgi. “Debating the Vulnerability Zeitgeist: Introduction to an Interdisciplinary Trialogue.” Human Studies, 47, 2 (2024): 251–260. Scarry, Elain, The Body in Pain: The Making and Unmaking of the World (OUP, 1985). Schrover, Marlou, and Willem Schinkel. “Introduction: the language of inclusion and exclusion in the context of immigration and integration”, Ethnic and Racial Studies 36, 7 (2013): 1123-1141. Slaughter, Joseph R., Human Rights, Inc. The World Novel, Narrative Form, and International Law (Fordham UP, 2007). Wu, Duncan, and Carolyne Forché (eds.) Poetry of Witness: The Tradition in English 1500-2001 (Norton, 2014). Submission of abstracts Please send abstracts to: gaetano.falco@uniba.it, Timeline Deadline for abstracts submission (400 words plus references): 15 December 2025. Please put as subject line “Textus Cross-disciplinary Issue 6/2025 – abstract submission” Notification to authors: 15 January 2026 Deadline for submission of first draft of article (maximum 7500 words including references): 31 May 2026 Request for revisions following peer review: 15 July 2026 Deadline for final version of article: 1 September 2026

Call for abstracts Textus 3/2026 – CROSS-DISCIPLINARY ISSUE Read More »

Torna in alto