The French and Italian Graduate Student Organization announce its 8th annual Graduate Student Conference:
“Contrasts: Literary and Linguistic Development through Difference”
The conference will be held on Friday and Saturday April 15-16, 2011 on the University of Texas campus located in the heart of Austin, Texas.
Contrasts in literature and language exist because they arise from the contrastive nature of human cognition and social organizations. An exploration of these differences can broaden our understanding of literature and language, and aid in the development of linguistic and literary theory. We welcome papers that focus on various manifestations of contrasts in French and Italian linguistics and literature.
Possible topics may address:
-Literary and linguistic differences between dialects
-Marked transformations in an author's body of work/Unexpected or sudden changes in an intellectual's ideology
-Differences in the internal cognitive state of adults vs. children during language learning
-Distribution of linguistic forms in different text-types
-Literary changes in gender studies (normativity, performance)
-Linguistic gender roles
-Characterizations of speech and comprehension in language learners vs. native speakers
-Ante and post bellum literature
-Debates between intellectuals or theorists
-Geographical divisions and their cultural, linguistic and economic implications
-Changing theoretical currents
-The differences in language use in pre and post mass media culture
-Differences in linguistic and literary trends pre and post standardization of the language
Please send an abstract in English of no more than 500 words to mailto:FIGSO2011@gmail.com before February 21, 2011. Be sure to include your name, affiliation, and contact information in the abstract and place your Subject Area (French Linguistics, Italian Linguistics, French Literature, Italian Literature) in the subject line of your email.
Department of French and Italian Home Page: http://www.utexas.edu/cola/depts/frenchitalian/
General Campus Map: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/
Map of the Campus Tower Area and the Department: http://www.utexas.edu/maps/main/buildings/hrh.html