We are delighted to announce that our Keynote Speakers will be:

• Willie van Peer (Ludwig Maximilian University Munich)

The Linguistics of Russian Fascism

The use of language under Fascism is determined by ideological and organizational conditions. I will first identify a catalogue of such characteristics, and then investigate how these initiate, shape and maintain linguistic usage. This results in a description of language behavior that is typical for Fascist movements and their impact on their respective societies. The conclusion will be that speech under Fascism is not only a consequence of the power regime but also, in its turn, a net contributor to the upkeep and even consolidation of the system.

We will then look at excerpts from speeches by Putin to demonstrate how they epitomize a number of these linguistic features typical of Fascist rule. Finally, we will employ content analysis to check our small-scale observations against a larger corpus of Putin’s speeches, the Fascist nature of which will by now have become fully apparent.

• Vander Viana (University of East Anglia)

Variation in English for Academic Purposes: Lessons from Corpus Linguistics

English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has developed from a branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) to a fully fledged academic discipline. This expansion has been propelled by numerous factors such as the increase of university students in English-speaking countries, the rising number of courses offered in English at universities worldwide and the numerous academic outputs published in English every year.

In this presentation, I will explore the notion of ‘variation’ in EAP through the lenses of Corpus Linguistics. I will show how corpus findings have helped us to notice differences amongst the numerous genres and registers subsumed under the label of EAP. The presentation will primarily focus on disciplinary variation, but it will also consider other types of variation. In closing the presentation, I will provide a critical perspective on the use of corpus linguistics in the exploration of EAP, highlighting its potential benefits and drawbacks.

• Agata Rozumko (University of Bialystok)

Relationships in Translation: An Interpersonal Pragmatics Pespective

One of the ways in which interpersonal relationships are indicated in real-life communication and in fiction is by the use of address terms, such as personal pronouns, first names, last names, titles, and honorifics. Every language has its own range of address terms and its own rules of using them, which is why recreating relationships within different address systems often poses a challenge to translators. The choice of address forms also depends on the degree of social distance between interlocutors, the nature of their relationship and the context in which their interaction takes place. This paper looks at the translation of address terms from the perspective of interpersonal pragmatics – a subfield of pragmatics that focuses on the role of language in the creation of relationships, and on the way relationships affect language use (as defined e.g. by Miriam A. Locher). One of the key concepts in the area is “relational work”, i.e. the work that interlocutors invest in negotiating relationships with others. This study examines how the translation of address terms affects the presentation of relationships. By looking at examples from Polish translations of American and Swedish crime fiction, it shows how address terms negotiations and shifts in the use of address terms are recreated by Polish translators.

• Lyudmila Hnapovska (Sumy State University)

"NAME" in the world and "WORLD" in the name: how do language and culture interact?

This talk digs into the findings of linguists, historians, cognitivists and culture studies theorists as well as the author’s research on the nature of the onomastic lexicon. It aims to answer the questions that scholars have addressed in numerous research papers. What is the cognitive model of anthroponymic nomination? How does an anthroponym as a semiotic unit fit into the culture code of a nation? What concepts underpin the formation of the text encoded in the inner form of a name as a language sign?

The lectures are uploaded here