Athens postgraduate workshop in pragmatics, May 13th, 2026

Plenary Speakers:
Robyn Carston (University College London)
Didier Maillat (University of Fribourg)

Link to the webpage of the scienceconf website (is intended for registered speakers only). 

The workshop will be held at the Library Amphitheater of the School of Philosophy, Zografou Campus, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, in the district of Zografou. 

Lunch and coffee breaks are provided on site.

Taxi: 10-15 minutes (5-10 euros) from the city centre. You may use the app Freenow to order your cab online, or get a taxi in the street or at a station and tell the driver you're going to Filosofiki, University, Zografou campus.

Public transport: 35 minutes (2 euros). Take metro line 3 direction Airport / Doukisis Plakentia from Syntagma or Monastiraki to station Evangelismos. Exit the metro and take either bus 250 to Filosofiki NKUA or bus 608 till Nekrotafion Zografou. Allow a little extra time because buses are not always running exactly on schedule. 

The programme in PDF 

Booklet of abstracts (to be updated)

08:30: Registration

09:00: Welcome Address

• 09:15: Plenary Speaker: Robyn Carston (University College London):

The Interpretation of Metaphor: Propositions, Images, Attitudes and Affect

• 10:15: Lemonia Tsavdaridou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens):

A pragmatic approach to mirative evidentiality in Greek

• 10:45: Gil Van Mulders (University of Neuchatel ):

Cross-Mapping Procedural Encoding and Non-Propositional Meaning across RT's Square

11:15: Coffee break

• 11:45: Charlotte Van der Voort (Leiden University Centre for Linguistics):

Meaning beyond the author: Plato and Isocrates on written discourse

• 12:15: Ismaël Pozner (University of Neuchâtel):

Narrative Relevance: learning from processing fictional minds

• 12:45: Maria-Anna Vraka (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens):

The emotional impact of verbal irony

13:15: Lunch

• 14:00: Plenary Speaker: Didier Maillat (University of Fribourg):

Relevance and frames of reference

• 15:00: Saki Stait (University College London):

Meiosis: Insights into figurative meaning

• 15:30: Eriketti Metaxa (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens):

Metaphor interpretation in L2: the role of mental imagery and context

16:00: Coffee break

• 16:30: Alan Lombardini, Giulia Giunta, Didier Maillat (University of Fribourg), Diana Mazzarella (University of Neuchatel):

Misinformation Detection Under Cognitive Load: An Investigation of Disfluency in L2 Processing

• 17:00: Siastathi Dimitra (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens):

Conceptualisations of toxicity in gaming discourse

• 17:30: Mourtzanou Evangelia (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens): Victimhood as Process:
  A Critical Discourse and Systemic Functional Study of Trauma, Identity and Agency

• 18:00: Emeline Pierre, Romina Kowsari (University of Neuchatel):

Backgrounding and foregrounding effects in Corporate Social Responsibility communication

18:30: Farewell Address

20:00: Conference dinner (for speakers)

For the speakers and organizers:

The dinner will take place on May 13th at 20:00 at Mani Mani restaurant, Falirou 10, Athens

All relevant information can be found on This is Athens website.

Hotels in Athens in June are quickly full so book your accommodation as quickly as you can. Hotels can be expensive so look also for alternatives (Airbnb and the like). 

Organisation: Elly Ifantidou, Louis de Saussure, Anna Piata. Funding: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens & University of Neuchatel

Managing organisers: Gil van Mulders & Ismaël Pozner. 

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