Why

Motivation

Since the publication of the Recommendations for a non-sexist use of the Italian language (Sabatini 1987), interest on the relationship between language use and gender equity in Italy has witnessed dramatically polar reactions swinging at different times from fierce and fiery debate to total neglect. The topic has made a recent come-back on the political agenda and in the media thanks to Laura Boldrini (former president of the Chamber of Deputies) and Valeria Fedeli (minister of Education) who have accepted the guidelines for a non-sexist language use in Italian licensed by the Accademia della Crusca (Robustelli 2012) and required that they be used in texts and documents under their control. The recent extreme verbally heated reactions across the media and over the web serve to underscore how important and timely it is in Italy to sit down at the table and address the crucial role that language plays in creating gender equity in society (Giusti 2016). They also provide an exemplary case of what Deborah Cameron (1995/2012) defines “verbal hygiene”; namely, the natural propensity that speakers have to establish norms of language use. As such, these normative speaker judgments are to be viewed as part of metalinguistic competence and are, therefore, also worth of being investigated by linguists, social and cognitive scientists.

Paralleling this renewed interest in gender-fair language use is the recent attention towards the manifold forms of hate-speech at an international level (Council of Europe, Resolution 384/2015). Even more recently, this has been matched by focused interest on the topic at the national level, as exemplified by the “Joe Cox” Committee on intolerance, xenophobia, racism and hate phenomena, of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, which issued a Final Report (2017) including an inventory of hate words compiled by the late Italian linguist Tullio De Mauro.

The parallel and synergistic scientific study of the social impact of gender-fair language use on the one hand, and gendered hate speech on the other, is timely and urgent in the Italian academic scene. This can best be carried out with a combined scientific approach that includes quantitative and qualitative methods.

Ca’ Foscari University of Venice has taken a proactive role over the last decade primarily building awareness on the impact of language on gender identity in academic institutions and the media. A number of research and dissemination outputs have targeted these issues in a comparative framework, comparing the Italian situation with other European countries and languages with publications (e.g., Giusti & Regazzoni 2009; Giusti 2011), events, conferences, a MOOC, and a set of guidelines.

The Venice Accessibility Lab in the Department of Linguistics and Cultural Studies wishes to take stock of the new research prospects on language and gender identity in a comparative perspective with interdisciplinary approaches across the cultural, social and cognitive sciences, (Department research and development mission, 2018-22). The conference coincides with the ten-year anniversary of the national conference Mi fai male (November 2008), and the 150th year celebrations at Ca’ Foscari (founded 1868).

Objectives

LIGHTS [LInguaggio, parità di Genere e parole d’odio / Language gender and HaTe Speech] will bring together international experts in the areas of formal and computational Linguistics, Psychology, Pedagogy, Sociology, Legal and Political Studies to discuss inclusive communication practices, verbal and linguistic equity and fairness, verbal violence in an intersectional approach considering gender and gender-identity in a comparative cross-linguistic and cross-cultural approach.

Italian Academia is relatively new to reflections on language, gender representation and gender perception and verbal violence, therefore the call for contributions is open to a range of research questions and approaches, to a variety of languages and methodologies. Of particular interest are comparative approaches across different types of media, social and cultural environments, and transectional identities.

The conference aims to establish a link between scientists and stakeholders in the areas of communication, media and education, to foster new scientific projects on language, gender and inclusion with a strong social impact, providing the forum and opportunity for national stake holders to come into contact and discuss the most urgent needs with national and international researchers.

References

Camera dei Deputati. 2017. La piramide dell’odio in Italia. [“Joe Cox” Report]

Cameron, Deborah. 1995¹/2012². Verbal Hygiene. London: Routledge.

Consiglio d’Europa. 2015. The Council of Europe’s work on Hate Speech.

Citron, Danielle. 2014. Hate Crimes in Cyberspace. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

Giusti, Giuliana (ed). 2011. Nominare per esistere: Nomi e cognomi. Materiali CPO 11. Venezia: Cafoscarina editrice.

Giusti, Giuliana & Susanna Regazzoni (eds). 2009. Mi fai male. Materiali CPO 9. Venezia: Cafoscarina editrice.

Giusti, Giuliana. 2016. La frontiera della lingua. In Anna Maria Isastia & Rosa Oliva (eds) Cinquant’anni non sono bastati. Le carriere delle donne a partire dalla sentenza n. 33/1969 della Corte Costituzionale. 239-245. Triest: Scienza Express.

Hardaker, Claire &Mark McGlashan. 2016. ‘Real Men Don’t Hate Women’: Twitter Rape Threats and Group Identity. Journal of Pragmatics 91: 80–93.

Robustelli, Cecilia. 2012. Linee guida per l’uso del genere nel linguaggio amministrativo. Florence: Regione Toscana /Accademia della Crusca.

Spallaccia, Beatrice. 2017. Misogynistic Hate Speech on Social Networks: a Critical Discourse Analysis. PhD diss. University of Bologna