Call for Papers
Speech Acts/Oral Traditions
A Panel Discussion at the Sixth International Literature and Humanities =
Conference,
Inscriptions in the Sand: an arts and culture conference and festival
at Eastern Mediterranean University
in Famagusta, on the island of Cyprus
May 30-June 1, 2003
=20
Submissions are invited for a Panel Discussion exploring the forms and =
modes in which literature, broadly defined, is transmitted orally; and =
how the production, transmission, and reception of =93texts=94 in oral =
traditions may be addressed in terms of speech act theory or theories of =
communicative action.
=20
=85oral traditions=85
=20
For our purposes, forms of orally transmitted literature may include =
(but are not limited to) traditional narratives such as the epic and the =
ballad, and ritualized performances (lullabies, incantations, laments, =
paeans, etc.); and also oral histories, folktales, myths, legends (urban =
and other), fables, fairytales, ghost stories, proverbs, riddles, jokes =
and shaggy dog stories, improvised theater, =93street talk=94 or argot, =
rap or popular song, gossip, rumor, hype, and buzz.=20
Such language forms may contribute to preserving existing cultural =
traditions and systems, or to creating new ones. They interact in =
complex ways with the methods and technologies used to record, print, =
archive, and investigate them, which codify and transform them through =
processes of editing, translation, and annotation; by extending their =
duration, and by recontextualizing their existence in time and place. =
These codifying processes are framed by, and at the same time generate, =
the shibboleths and creolized discourses of schools of theory and =
academic disciplines.=20
The global reach of electronic media and communication =
technologies=97radio, television, the internet in particular=97used to =
broadcast them has further complicated the study of oral texts not only =
by modifying their method of transmission, but by dislocating and =
decentering their cultural/historical provenance, their space of =
existence, and their audience.
=20
=85and speech acts=85
=20
In this global context, where the local conventions and assumptions of a =
culture are constantly being questioned or reconfigured in interaction =
with other cultures, the literary forms and modes of oral communication =
and their reception in academic and other disciplinary contexts provide =
an ideal field of inquiry for the various dimensions of speech act =
theory articulated by theorists such as Austin, Grice, Wittgenstein, =
Searle, Derrida, Iser, and Pratt, and the theory of communicative action =
developed by Habermas.=20
The relation between speech act theories and social theories of =
communicative rationality pivots on the operation and validity claims of =
=93illocutionary=94 speech acts=97that is, performative utterances with =
some inherent degree of agency=97which depend on the complex system of =
socio-cultural assumptions, rules, and attitudes in which they occur.
Since the meaning of illocutionary acts=97the =93perlocutionary =
effects=94 they produce=97depends on these conventions of their =
performance, the forms and modes of transmission and reception of oral =
literature would seem to constitute critical sites for investigating the =
illocutionary force of literary/fictional speech acts, and for =
developing models and paradigms for social action in real-world speech =
situations.
=20
=85at Inscriptions in the Sand.=20
For more information, please visit our website at =
http://www.emu.edu.tr/elh/index_confer.html. Please also check out our =
links to =93Individual Research Presentations=94 and =
=93Creative/Performance Work.=94
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Prospective panelists are invited to send 250-word abstracts/proposals =
for 15-20 minute presentations on any aspect of these areas to =
johann.pillai@emu.edu.tr or rodney.sharkey@emu.edu.tr by 30 October, =
2002. We look forward to learning about your research, and to a =
provocative discussion.
===============================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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