Call for Papers

2022 Sorbonne

The 13th International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature 31 May-2 June 2022 at the Sorbonne University, Paris

Extended Call for Papers: Deadline 31 December 2021

Conference website: https://ill13.sciencesconf.org/ 

We invite the submission of abstracts to the 13th Biennial International Symposium on Iconicity in Language and Literature initiated by the Iconicity Research Project, with the first symposium held in Zurich 1997, see http://www.iconicity.ch/.

The topic of iconicity – resemblance between form and meaning – continues to be highly relevant for the study of language (in both spoken and signed modalities) and literature, but also for other semiotic systems and media involving gesture, depiction and music, and for interdisciplinary fields such as cognitive science and cognitive semiotics. At the theoretical level, the understanding of the concept of iconicity supposes a good understanding of the notions of resemblance or analogy. The theme of the 13th Symposium is therefore “Iconicity and analogy”. 

Keynote speakers: Claudine Tiercelin (Paris), Jean-Marie Klinkenberg (Liège), Jamin Pelkey (Toronto), Michele Prandi (Genoa)

Previous symposia have concentrated on iconicity as a driving force in language (both spoken and signed) on all grammatical levels, as well as in language change, language acquisition, and language processing. They have also addressed iconicity in language use across a range of media (from print to performance), incorporating the uses of iconic images, diagrams and metaphors at different levels of abstraction and in all varieties of text and discourse (literary texts, historical texts, political texts, advertising, language and music, word and image, etc.). These possibilities remain open for the 2022 symposium, and we welcome abstracts to topics such as (but not limited to), the following:

* Iconicity in the speech signal (“sound symbolism”, “ideophones”)
* Iconicity in grammar and text
* Iconicity in literature
* Iconicity in philosophy
* Iconicity in signed languages
* Iconicity in gestures
* Iconicity in pictures and other visual media
* Iconicity in music
* Iconicity in intermediality
* Iconicity in narration
* Iconicity in imagination (“mental imagery”)
* Iconicity in metaphors within and across semiotic systems
* Iconicity across sensory modalities (“multimodality” and “cross-modality”)
* Iconicity in evolution
* Iconicity in child development
 

Given the wide scope of the topic, accepted presentations need to be made accessible for an interdisciplinary audience.  The symposium will be held in French and in English.

Abstract submission: We invite abstracts in English or in French (450 words maximum, excluding references) of unpublished work for oral presentations, posters, and theme sessions. 

* Oral papers: 30 minutes + 10 minutes discussion, in two or three parallel sessions. (Deadline: 29 October 2021)  
* Posters: there will be a 2-hour poster session for up to 30 presentations (Deadline: 29 October 2021). 

Abstracts are to be submitted through Easychair (the link will be provided at the website). Each abstract will be reviewed by at least two reviewers from an international Scientific Committee of experts in the respective field. The symposium will be hosted by the “UFR  Langue française” at Sorbonne University (Paris).

A selected number of essays will be published in the Iconicity in Language and Literature (ILL) series published by John Benjamins.

Local Organizing Committee
Philippe Monneret
Mathieu Avanzi
Anouch Bourmayan
Marco Fasciolo 
Antoine Gautier 
Gaël Lejeune

Permanent Organizing Committee
Prof Dr Olga Fischer        
Prof Dr Christina Ljungberg