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II primo Congresso nazionale dell’Associazione Italiana di Anglistica si propone di dimostrare concretamente – o forse, più cautamente, si potrebbe dire di saggiare – i1 livello scientifico raggiunto dalla ricerca nel campo del­l’anglistica in Italia; un livello che – se mi è consentito di esprimere un’opinione personale ma che credo ampia­mente condivisa – ha ben poco da invidiare, per impegno, per ricchezza di contributi, per risultati, a quello raggiunto nel medesimo campo negli altri paesi non anglofoni, ed anche in quelli di cultura inglese. L’unico settore in cui siamo restati indietro rispetto agli altri paesi è stato nella capacità di far conoscere il nostro lavoro al di là dei con­fini dell’Italia – ed è uno dei compiti primari della nostra Associazione l’ovviare a questa deficienza. Il Consiglio Direttivo dell’Associazione, riconoscendo la dignità e originalità scientifica raggiunta dalla ricerca non soltanto nel campo letterario ma anche in quello più specificamente linguistico, ha ritenuto di articolare gli in­terventi a1 Congresso in due sezioni distinte e parallele – letteraria e linguistica –, scegliendo tematiche circo­scritte sul piano diacronico. Va detto subito che la ristret­tezza del tempo ha costretto il Direttivo ad una imposta­zione poco elastica: il quadro di cui disponeva al momento ultimo per prendere decisioni in merito alla strutturazione del Congresso era ancora molto incompleto e frammen­tario. Spetterà alle consultazioni con tutti i soci, che avremo nei prossimi due giorni, fare proposte sia sui conte­nuti che sulle forme che dovranno assumere i congressi futuri – forme e contenuti – che potranno essere molto diversi da quelli di oggi (si potrà pensare, per esempio, a congressi con poche relazioni, tenute per invito anche da studiosi stranieri, con ampio spazio per il dibattito). In questo primo Congresso, tenendo conto degli inte­ressi dichiaratisi nella produzione scientifica di molti mem­bri dell’Associazione, si sono voluti privilegiare i temi dello sperimentalismo caratteristici del Novecento, sia nella pra­tica letteraria che nella riflessione linguistica. Di qui la scelta: «Sperimentalismo e innovazione nella letteratura inglese contemporanea» per la prima sezione; «Aspetti teorici e sperimentali della ricerca sulla lingua inglese» per la seconda. E’ un modo di fare il punto sullo svolgi­mento della ricerca in due campi, sia pur limitati, che rientrano in modo preminente negli interessi dei membri dell’Associazione. Ho parlato finora soprattutto della ricerca; ma questo non è l’unico obiettivo di un’Associazione come l’AIA. Mi sia consentito di approfittare di questa occasione per trac­ciare sinteticamente la storia della nascita dell’AIA e per fare un bilancio sommario dell’attività svolta nel suo primo anno di vita, indicando così le linee d’azione lungo le quali l’AIA si muove e almeno alcuni degli obiettivi vicini e lon­tani che intende perseguire. Proprio per il coordinamento della ricerca si costituì negli anni sessanta, sotto gli auspici del Consiglio Nazio­nale delle Ricerche, una prima Associazione Italiana di An­glistica. Si trattava di un gruppo ristretto di cattedratici, e occorre dire che furono allora impostate, con la collabo­razione di varie sedi universitarie, ricerche assai fruttuose, come quelle sui fondi di anglistica nelle biblioteche e negli archivi italiani, o sulla fortuna di Shakespeare in Italia, i cui risultati seguitano tuttora ad apparire. Tuttavia, so­prattutto dopo il 1968, i vari progetti di ricerca prosegui­rono indipendentemente l’uno dall’altro, grazie all’iniziativa, certamente encomiabile, di singoli docenti e ricercatori; contemporaneamente, a seguito della liberalizzazione degli accessi all’Università, gli Istituti e i docenti di anglistica erano assoggettati a formidabili pressioni per la moltipli­cazione del numero degli studenti, con esigenze che a prima vista sembravano interferire e addirittura opporsi all’im­pegno della ricerca – esigenze che le già fatiscenti strut­ture universitarie esistenti non erano assolutamente in gra­do di affrontare. I provvedimenti urgenti del ’73, mai in­tegralmente attuati, se da una parte diedero l’illusoria im­pressione di incrementare i ranghi di docenti e ricercatori (e in effetti permisero l’acquisizione di nuove leve di stu­diosi di merito), dall’altra accentuarono e quasi istituzio­nalizzarono la condizione di precarietà in cui l’Università versa ormai da tanti anni. Tale condizione fu sentita e si sente in maniera particolarmente grave nell’ambito della lingua e letteratura inglese per la ragione già indicata, ossia per l’enorme afflusso di studenti che vedono nell’inglese uno strumento indispensabile per accedere ad un qualsiasi sbocco professionale. Nell’ottobre del 1975, in una riunione promossa ancora una volta dal C.N.R., i docenti universitari d’inglese, fra i quali molti della nuova generazione, il cui genuino entu­siasmo era perennemente frustrato da una stagnazione am­ministrativa e organizzativa che dura tuttora, cercarono di riannodare le fila del discorso sulla ricerca e sul suo coor­dinamento. Ci si rese subito conto in quella sede che, se da una parte esistevano in abbondanza le forze per dare nuovo impulso alla ricerca, dall’altra il limitarsi ad una funzione di coordinamento sul piano nazionale sarebbe sta­to un chiudere gli occhi al compito primario del docente di anglistica in quella che ormai – bene o male – era di­venuta un’Università di massa, e dunque un’Università di­versa – un’Università che aveva bisogno di un radicale rinnovamento se voleva tentare di rispondere ad esigenze che si erano già dichiarate in maniera drammatica, e non in Italia soltanto, alla fine degli anni Sessanta, e alle quali le forze politiche e amministrative, con tutta la buona vo­lontà, non avevano fornito neppure l’ombra di una risposta. La domanda che gli anglisti dovevano porsi non era quale ricerca o ricerche perseguire, ma perché perseguirla – e in quale contesto. Insomma, riconoscendo la funzione di­dattica dell’Università (e particolarmente nel nostro campo, delle lingue e letterature straniere) – funzione innegabile, ma condotta in condizioni di estremo disagio per le gra­vissime carenze istituzionali –, l’unica via aperta apparve quella di approfondire lo studio del rapporto fra didattica e ricerca, di accertare lo spazio della ricerca nell’insegna­mento, soprattutto in vista di nuove strutture universitarie: in primo luogo il Dipartimento, una struttura all’interno della quale non può esistere didattica senza ricerca o vice­versa. Una commissione ristretta fu incaricata di preparare un convegno nazionale degli anglisti con un duplice fine: dibattere innanzitutto questa tematica, cercando di arrivare a proposte concrete e comunque a evidenziare l’estensione del problema e a puntualizzarne i momenti essenziali; in

CLAVIER 2023 Framing nature: discourses past and present of nature and the environment A sustainability perspective 23-24 November 2023 Università degli Studi di Milano, Department of Languages, literatures, cultures and mediations Piazza Indro Montanelli 1 Sesto San Giovanni, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy Among the problems troubling the 21st century, particularly salient are those concerning the environment. In what is commonly referred to as the Age of the Anthropocene, the relationship between human beings and the natural world is at the heart not only of extensively debated problems such as climate change and the depletion of natural resources, (micro-)plastic pollution and the consequences of nuclear disasters, but also of issues such as the management of the global economy and the likelihood of the emergence of novel diseases, of which Covid-19 is only the latest. The very concept of environmental sustainability – quite possibly one of the defining concepts of 21st century policy thinking – revolves around this relationship, and it is on the way we understand it that our approaches to addressing environmental issues depend. This understanding is shaped by a broad array of beliefs, assumptions and convictions which vary, evolve, stratify and cross-fertilize across times and cultures, all of which come to bear – at least potentially – on contemporary environmental discourse. Indeed, the plethora of issues which fall within such discourse make for a complex scenario riddled with tensions, many of which originate from the different ways in which environmental problems are “framed,” i.e. how specific aspects of such problems are selected and given salience in discourse so as “to promote a particular problem definition, causal interpretation, moral evaluation, and/or treatment recommendation for the item described” (Entman 1993: 52). The multiple framings that can be identified differ in terms of values, priorities, perspectives and predictions – and therefore, following Entman, the remedies they suggest and the recommendations they put forth to avoid what is increasingly recognised as impending disaster. Identifying and analysing the frames deployed in environmental discourse, as well as their historical, cultural and philosophical roots, is therefore crucial not only to understand underlying assumptions about the relationship between human beings and the environment, but also to explore the way in which the need for behavioural change (or lack thereof) both on a collective and an individual level can be convincingly argued. Moreover, since framing is a decisive step in the construction of arguments which affect the outcome of a debate (van Eemeren and Houtlosser 1999), it is all the more essential to analyse its role in a form of discourse which is inevitably mobilised in the service of action (or inaction). This call for papers invites contributions on the above-mentioned topics. We are seeking research papers, case studies, and theoretical contributions that address the framings and understandings of nature and the environment across time, space, media and discourses. Potential topics for submission may include, but are not limited to:  Framing (of) nature across time and space  Cultural differences in framing environmental problems  The role of media in shaping environmental discourse  Framing climate change  The politics of framing  The framing of sustainability  Framing environmental activism  The ethics of framing with respect to nature and the environment  The role of science and ideology in environmental discourse  The future of environmental discourse We welcome submissions (max 300 words plus five references) from scholars and researchers in the fields of linguistics, translation, and interpreting, discourse analysis, argumentation theory, rhetoric and related disciplines, as well as from other associated fields. Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome. As part of the Clavier event series, the conference will feature a special strand on corpus linguistics approaches. Proposals can be submitted for individual papers (20 minutes + 10 minutes for discussion), posters and panels. Proposals for panels for up to 5 papers (for a 2-hour session) should include a short description of the panel (150 words max) and the titles of the individual papers included in the panel. Panel organizers should pre-select panel contributions. Panels featuring more than five participants may be arranged upon request subject to space and time availability. Panel participants should also submit their proposals individually, following the Submission Guidelines and clearly indicating the title of the panel they will be presenting on. The language of the conference is English. Submission Guidelines: Proposals should be clearly structured, with theoretical contributions highlighting the innovative aspects of the proposed models, and analyses clearly outlining aim, materials, methodological approach and expected results. Please use the APA citation style for your references. All submissions should be made electronically via email to the conference email-address (Clavier2023@unimi.it), along with a cover letter indicating the author’s name, affiliation, contact information and title of contribution. In their (anonymous) submissions, authors should clearly indicate minimum 3 and maximum 5 keywords, and they should specify their preference for paper delivery or poster presentation. The latter may be especially suited to early-career researchers or to presentations of work-in- progress. Confirmed plenary speakers: Jonathan Charteris-Black, UWE Bristol Giuliana Garzone, Univeristà IULM Martin Reisigl, Universität Wien Arran Stibbe, University of Gloucestershire Conference Chair: Paola Catenaccio Organising committee Lucia Berti, Jekaterina Nikitina, Letizia Paglialunga, Massimo Sturiale Scientific Committee Cinzia Bevitori, Università di Bologna Marina Bondi, Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia Nicholas Brownlees, Università degli Studi di Firenze Gloria Cappelli, Università degli Studi di Pisa Jonathan Charteris-Black, UWE Bristol Belinda Crawford, Università della Calabria Chiara Degano, Università di Roma 3 Marina Dossena, Università degli Studi di Bergamo Roberta Facchinetti, Università degli Studi di Verona Daniele Franceschi, Università degli Studi di Roma 3 Giuliana Garzone, Università IULM Kim Grego, Università degli Studi di Milano Stefania Maci, Università degli Studi di Bergamo Giovanna Mapelli, Università degli Studi di Milano Denise Milizia, Università degli Studi di Bari Renzo Mocini, Università di Roma “La Sapienza” Bettina Mottura, Università degli Studi di Milano Maria Cristina Paganoni, Università degli Studi di Milano Giuseppe Palumbo, Università degli Studi di Trieste Martin Reisigl, Universität Wien Katherine Elizabeth Russo, Università di Napoli

L2APR: L2 accent and pronunciation research: acquisition, teaching, attitudes Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Venice, Italy, November 15-16, 2023 The Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice is pleased to announce the international conference “L2 accent and pronunciation research: acquisition, teaching, attitudes” which will be held on November 15-16, 2023, in Venice, Italy. Our aim is to bring together scholars interested in the three main lines of research in foreign accented speech indicated in the conference title: acquisition, teaching and attitudes. We invite contributions of original research related to all languages. Possible topics include L2 phonetics and phonology acquisition, methodological advances in pronunciation teaching and assessment of foreign accented speech. Contributions exploring general attitudes towards foreign accents and learners’ viewpoints on the value of explicit classroom instruction in L2 phonetics are particularly welcome. Venue The event will be hosted by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. There will be no fee for participants. Keynote Speakers Małgorzata Baran-Łucarz (University of Wrocław) Jean-Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck, University of London) Ineke Mennen (University of Graz) Submission Guidelines Please use the following EasyChair link for submission: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=l2apr The anonymous abstracts should be no longer than one page (single-spaced, 12 pt, 2.5 cm margins), with a possible second page reserved for figures, tables, and references. The languages of the conference are English and Italian. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed. For all accepted abstracts, we plan 20 minute oral presentations with 10 minutes reserved for discussion. Important Dates April 15, 2023 (AOE): Abstract submission deadline June 1, 2023: Notification of acceptance Organizing Committee Ignacio Arroyo Hernández Elena Dal Maso Pavel Duryagin Marie Christine Jamet David Newbold Peter Martin Paschke Ashley Riggs Contact For additional information about the conference, please contact us at L2APRvenezia@unive.it

L2APR: L2 accent and pronunciation research: acquisition, teaching, attitudes Ca’ Foscari University of Venice Venice, Italy, November 15-16, 2023 The Department of Linguistics and Comparative Cultural Studies at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice is pleased to announce the international conference “L2 accent and pronunciation research: acquisition, teaching, attitudes” which will be held on November 15-16, 2023, in Venice, Italy. Our aim is to bring together scholars interested in the three main lines of research in foreign accented speech indicated in the conference title: acquisition, teaching and attitudes. We invite contributions of original research related to all languages. Possible topics include L2 phonetics and phonology acquisition, methodological advances in pronunciation teaching and assessment of foreign accented speech. Contributions exploring general attitudes towards foreign accents and learners’ viewpoints on the value of explicit classroom instruction in L2 phonetics are particularly welcome. Venue The event will be hosted by Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. There will be no fee for participants. Keynote Speakers Małgorzata Baran-Łucarz (University of Wrocław) Jean-Marc Dewaele (Birkbeck, University of London) Ineke Mennen (University of Graz) Submission Guidelines Please use the following EasyChair link for submission: https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=l2apr The anonymous abstracts should be no longer than one page (single-spaced, 12 pt, 2.5 cm margins), with a possible second page reserved for figures, tables, and references. The languages of the conference are English and Italian. All abstracts will be peer-reviewed. For all accepted abstracts, we plan 20 minute oral presentations with 10 minutes reserved for discussion. Important Dates April 15, 2023 (AOE): Abstract submission deadline June 1, 2023: Notification of acceptance Organizing Committee Ignacio Arroyo Hernández Elena Dal Maso Pavel Duryagin Marie Christine Jamet David Newbold Peter Martin Paschke Ashley Riggs Contact For additional information about the conference, please contact us at L2APRvenezia@unive.it

‘Negative solidarities’. The age of anger and hate speech in the Anglophone globalized public sphere  International Conference, November 9-10, palazzo Du Mesnil, University of Naples L’Orientale  When in 2017 Pankaj Mishra published Age of Anger: A History of the Present, he devised an iconic title for a shared contemporary condition. In articulating a widespread sense of general angst and resentment, Mishra reconsidered notions of traditional political theory to compare the “unprecedented political, economic and social disorder that accompanied the rise of the industrial capitalist economy” to the perplexing present of new holy wars and ideological crusades which have left few democracies untouched. Rejuvenated forms of nihilistic political violence and parochial chauvinism are arguably infecting much vaster geopolitical realities and wider strata of the population, thereby propelling local and global waves of loathing and fear, shaping national and international forms of right-wing extremism and/or religious fundamentalism and terrorism.  Although they travel transnationally, all over the world, forms of ‘negative solidarity’ (Arendt, Men in Dark Times, 1968) manifest themselves in local adaptations. They prosper due to the weakening and severe limits of the impoverished welfare state which is unable to dispel a generalized perception of insecurity and disposability and produces systemic mistrust in personal agency and a correlated thirst for ‘problem-solving’ authoritarianism. Such insecurity and sense of disposability makes some individuals more prone to inventing scapegoats (e.g., intellectuals, elites, minorities such as Muslims, women, Blacks, Jews, and even mainstream politicians) for their real or imagined problems. Even the threat of global climate change tends to generate blind forms of social anxiety, pessimism and anti scientific conspiracy theories instead of inspiring cooperative action. Moreover, neoliberal schemes of ruthless economic competition and free enterprise rhetoric create exasperated expectancies of individual self-distinction and economic realization fostering bitter feelings of resentment, disappointment, and frustration. The universalization of the culture of individualism has led to a frenetic pace of ever-accelerating rugged competition, and a clamorous, vociferous public sphere where social media accentuate social hierarchies thus catalyzing a toxic mix of anomie and sectarianism.  In this scenario, negative affects and solidarities become key terms to capture the fluid dynamics of communication and everyday human behaviour. The vernacular and pervasive circulation of negative affects such as anger, loathing and fear is perhaps most visible in hate speech, fiercely expressed from a protected and sometimes anonymous position in digitally networked communication technologies. Overt or covert hate speech towards specific social groups who are viewed as minorities and/or vulnerable based on their religion, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation have seeped in everyday online and offline conversation yet hate speech should also be analysed in terms of a wider and new understanding of the politics and culture of anger and hate. In this light, the interdisciplinary analysis of contemporary literary and artistic expression, media and social media communication may illuminate the logics by which new forms of expression emerge, for example, in moments of crisis and conflict in search for solidarity or joint action.  The present call for papers invites proposals focusing on the socio-political and cultural significance of manifestations of negative solidarities in the ‘Age of Anger’ and ‘Hate Speech’ and their representations in literature, film, tv, the performing and visual arts, as well as in news media and social media communication, and historical and political discourse.  We invite proposals on topics including, but not limited to:  – Religion and anger  – Gender and anger – Ethnicity, marginalization and anger  – Communalism Vs Community  – Isolation and competition  – Entrepreneurialism, social greed  – Geo-political fields of tension  – Post-imperial melancholies, global fears  – Hate speech, xenophobia and racism  – Hate speech and disability  – Hate speech and sexism  – Visualizing terror, representing angst  – Storytelling and trauma  – Narration as antidote against poisonous socialization  – Literary/artistic forms of activism  Please, send an abstract (either in English or Italian) of about 300 words, including title and bibliography, and a short bio with affiliation to dvitolo@unior.it and gscottodicarlo@unior.it (in Cc to rciocca@unior.it )  Deadline for abstracts: May 15, 2023  Notification of acceptance: June 5, 2023  Scientific Committee:  Giuseppe Balirano, Rossella Ciocca, Katherine E. Russo, Tiziana Terranova  Organising Committee:  Vincenzo Bavaro, Anna Maria Cimitile, Mara De Chiara, Giuseppe De Riso, Alberto Manco, Stamatia Portanova, Giuseppina Scotto di Carlo, Anna Mongibello, Daniela Vitolo