Call for Papers 2025 

ENG

Idee e forme del tradĕre: tradizione e tradimento

International Doctoral Conference

FLUI 2025 - Filologia, Linguistica, Umanistica Digitale e Italianistica

University of Florence

Florence, 25-27 June 2025

Ph.D. candidates from the XXXVIII and XXXIX cycles of the PhD program in Philology, Italian Literature, and Linguistics at the University of Florence announce the opening of the Call for Papers for the FLUI 2025 Doctoral Conference. The conference is open to doctoral students, early-career researchers, and those who have earned a master’s degree in the past three years or a PhD in the past five years. 

The conference theme focuses on the semantic developments of the Latin verb tradĕre, originally meaning “to hand over, entrust, or transmit” a task, object, or payment. Over time, tradĕre came to signify the passage of memories, information, and testimonies through time. More broadly the noun tradizione represents the transmission of systems of knowledge, beliefs, values, customs, and practices. In Latin, tradĕre also developed the specific meaning of “to hand over/submit to the enemy,” leading to the semantic outcome of betrayal, which signifies the failure to uphold a commitment or duty.

Participants are invited to explore the diverse uses of this semantic spectrum, developing their contributions from philological, literary, linguistic, and/or digital humanities perspectives. Below are some suggested areas of inquiry.

Regarding Philology and textual tradition, participants may develop proposals, including case studies, along the following lines:

1. Ecdotic methodology in cases of textual traditions (manuscript or printed) that are multiple or single-witness, contaminated and indirect, involving the presence of the author and/or the autograph. Contributors are encouraged to focus their analyses on the challenges posed by these specificities, reflecting on potential editorial solutions.

2. Analysis of the various forms that the betrayal of the intentio auctoris can take during the transmission of a text, whether intentional or not. In this context, consider traditions of translation, where scribes often feel authorized to correct, contaminate, modernize, due to the inherently low degree of authorship associated with this type of text. Additionally, consider cases of errors stemming from the phenomenology of copying or from mechanisms that alter the linguistic surface of a text.

Ragarding Linguistics, tradition and betrayal may be addressed through:

1. Studies on elements within the linguistic-discursive tradition understood as the codification of norms in Italian, English, or other languages — for example, in grammars and dictionaries — as well as those that diverge from it, across all historical periods. This ranges from evidence of deviations from the norm in ancient documentary sources to the emergence and promotion of substandard features in the contemporary linguistic landscape.

2. The effects of the linguistic-discursive tradition, conceived as the transmission of language structures and uses over time, are also explored. Analyses concerning the diamesic and diaphasic dimensions and any related interferences, such as the emergence of spoken-language features in written texts for pragmatic reasons — for instance, in traditional epistolary exchanges through to contemporary digital neo-epistolary communication — or, more broadly, phenomena linked to various forms of transmitted Italian, are encouraged.

3. Reflections branching from the concept of betrayal, interpretable as fidelity or infidelity to the linguistic identity of speakers and their rules of use, such as studies on the cognitive processes involved in acquiring a second language or shifts from one language to another and from one variety to another, understood as a manifestation of speakers' belonging to specific social groups. Finally, attention is drawn to the theme of intergenerational linguistic transmission as an element for evaluating linguistic vitality: in a migratory context, for example, the linguistic issue is central and is manifested in the tension between maintaining ethnic-cultural identity and the necessity of integrating the individual into the host environment.

The verb tradĕre with its multiple implications offers very rich ideas for an interdisciplinary approach in the field of Digital Humanities. This field integrates and combines digital technologies, methods and tools in the study, research, analysis and management and validation of traditional humanistic disciplines, but the digitalization process is not free from critical issues. In this context, we suggest:

1. Reflections on cultural heritage digitization projects as ways to preserve and renew tradition in durable and accessible formats, investigating the limits and opportunities of digital preservation (e.g., archives, corpora, lexicographic tools and platforms); and reflections on the concept of betrayal in digital processes through emblematic case studies in which the transition from physical to digital support has led to significant disruptions (such as the creation of high-resolution copies of manuscripts, conversion methodologies through OCR software, digitization of sound/ video from analogue to digital format) and possible strategies to analyze the causes, correct them and improve the reliability of the data obtained.

2. In digital philology, the balance between traditional philology and the analysis of large amounts of data at the supra-textual level allows to deal with the inevitable transformations introduced by digital processes, while ensuring the integrity and accuracy of interpretations: analysis of the methodological and interpretative implications of this interaction and strategies to ensure the integrity and accuracy of interpretations.

3. In the field of Computational Linguistics or Natural Language Processing (NLP), human errors and technical aspects (such as tokenization, semantic annotation and representation priorities) can alter the results and compromise the fidelity to the original data: effects and implications on how the transformation of contents into analyzable data by adopting a computational approach can damage the essence of the original material in favor of the amount of analyzable data.

4. Effects of Machine Learning and the role of algorithms as "new mediators" of the past in the reinterpretation and reorganization of data through examples and case studies in which the use of these tools bring out new meanings and relationships that modify the understanding, representation and dissemination of the past.

Investigations into the “betrayals” of the text in machine and/or AI-assisted translation processes: examples of how authorial intentions can be altered and methodologies that combine human intervention to correct and improve automated processes (e.g. Rule-Based Systems in combination with Machine Learning; crowdsourcing and Expert Review).

In the field of Italian Literature, the reflection on the verb tradĕre allows for the exploration of various research directions, ranging from the stylistic strategies of texts to the formation of literary traditions, from didactic works to relationships with cultural tradition. Below are some of the possible research topics related to the conference themes to which candidates may connect:

1. Relationship with Literary Tradition, in the sense of comparison with the classics as traditionally understood or with the "new" classics that progressively establish themselves as canon. Tradition can also be understood, more specifically, as a process of canonization; consequently, are encouraged contributions that reflect on how the concept of canon is born and how it develops are encouraged; the cultural and social dynamics through which the canon changes in different eras and geographic areas; the physical and symbolic spaces for the production and negotiation of the canon (editorial places such as magazines or publishing houses, but also cultural, political, and religious institutions); the relationship between canonical literature and literary production on its boundaries.

2. Transmission of Literary and Cultural Heritage in the Educational Field. What is taught and, therefore, transmitted is always the result of a choice; so, are suggested contributions on how the teaching of literature, in its methodological and content-related aspects, adapts to the changing cultural horizon of reference are encouraged, on how literature textbooks change over time and on the literary canon to which the teaching of literature refers.

3. Transmission of a Teaching through Literary Works. In this regard, are encouraged contributions on the tools the writer uses (at the thematic, stylistic, and rhetorical levels) to persuade the reader to adhere to their teachings; on how, in a literary text, the didactic vocation intertwines with the function of entertainment; on the relationship between literary genres and didactic goals; on how the choice of literary genre interacts with the didactic purpose of a text; on how commentary on the text can strengthen the didactic instance of a work.

4. In the context of betrayal, we invite you to reflect on the problematic relationship with the source texts, specifically addressing issues of rewriting, imitation, and the reworking of a canon or tradition. An interesting aspect is also the betrayal involved in linguistic translation, that is, in the possibility of aligning with the aesthetics and semantics of the source text.

5. The relationship with tradition can also be understood as a literary theme. Therefore, contributions are encouraged on how literature thematizes the relationship with origins in its various declinations: the relationship with one's homeland, with the popular tradition, with the cultural identity of a specific place or country, but also the active relationship with an artistic and cultural history, with classicism in its broader sense.

Guidelines for Participation

Participants may submit up to two proposals: one as a single author and the other as a co-author, or two proposals as a co-author.

Presentations are expected to last no longer than 20 minutes, and proposals will be accepted in both Italian and English. To apply, candidates must complete the application form uploading an anonymous abstract in PDF format of no more than 300 words (excluding the title, tables, graphs, and bibliography).

The deadline for proposal submission is 26/03/2025.

Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the first week of May. The conference will be held in person. Information regarding bibliographic references and registration will be communicated later and published on this site: https://sites.google.com/unifi.it/flui

For further information, please contact the Organizing Committee at:

convegnoflui@gmail.com