Cross-Cultural Pragmatics at a Crossroads III
Impact: making a difference in intercultural communication
THird cross-cultural Pragmatics Conference at the UNIVERSITY
OF EAST ANGLIA, nORWICH, uk
Wednesday 26 – Friday 28 June 2013
INVITED SPEAKERS
Plenary 1 Istvan Kecskes (University at Albany, USA)
Plenary 2 Mona Baker (University of Manchester, UK)
Plenary 3 [Srikant Sarangi (Cardiff University, UK) TBC]
Plenary 4 Minako O’Hagan (Dublin City University, Ireland)
Plenary 5 Ana Rojo (Universidad de Murcia, Spain)
Plenary 6 Christine Béal and Véronique Traverso ( (Université Paul Valéry, Montptellier and Lyon 2, France)
(provisional order)
Outreach Event Special Guest contributor
Makiko Mizuno (Kinjo Gakuin University, Nagoya) (public and community interpreting)
CALL FOR PAPERS
The conference builds on the success of two prior Cross-cultural Pragmatics at a Crossroads conferences at the UEA - Speech Frames and Cultural Perceptions in 2006, and its larger-scale follow-up Linguistic and Cultural Representations across Media in 2011 -, this time with an even more ambitious agenda.
Like its forerunners, CCP III will be interdisciplinary, and aims to bring together, under the umbrella of cross-cultural pragmatics, researchers from domains which are particularly sensitive to cross-cultural issues, to promote the cross-fertilization of practises, ideas and theoretical approaches, and explore key concerns associated with communication across language and culture boundaries, in practice and theory.
Making a difference, the impact theme of this third meeting, will tap into, and confront, two closely related spheres of research activity in intercultural communication:
· Research in its value and contribution to wider society, i.e. the pursuit of research that makes a difference and ways of making it applicable and available to those for whom it can make a difference
· Research in its investigation of factors that impede or promote communication, understanding and respect for otherness in multicultural/globalised settings
Conflict and conflict resolution, negotiation at all levels (local, national, global) across languages, cultures and contexts (political, business, welfare, media, culture), and attendant failures, breakdowns and also successes, feed the news with headlines and affect our lives on an everyday basis. How do we, and how can we, make the difference?
→ How can the theories of cross-/intercultural communication be applied to solve communicative conflicts in multicultural/globalised settings, for example? Such conflicts can be triggered not just by prejudiced or overtly ethnocentric inputs but also by uninspected assumptions that, with English as lingua franca, acquisition and knowledge of languages other than English is no longer necessary, that “cultural” contrasts can be neatly separated from communicative and linguistic issues, that avoidance of potentially conflict-laden topics/terminologies (e.g. faith-related communication, political-historical evaluations) will guarantee conflict-free communication, or that a strictly “plain” or formally defined language use will avoid misunderstanding and miscommunication.
→ How can the theories of cross-/intercultural communication be applied to promote understanding and respect for otherness in all its richness, and pre-empt communicative conflict in multicultural/globalized settings.
→ How can the theories of cross-/intercultural communication be further developed? Miscommunication between individuals and groups leads to dire consequences and on a global international level the outcomes of breakdowns or misrepresentations have a decisive and often devastating impact on whole communities and nations. The investigation into the reasons why this may occur, as well as how to solve problems and prevent them in the first place are a priority in today’s world.. Parallels at local or interpersonal levels or in other contexts can be no less dramatic, and are equally in urgent need of exploration.
CCP III will provide a platform for open dialogue on the multiple factors that play a role in both success and failure to communicate at all levels and highlight the ways forward where failure will no longer be an option, and tolerance to otherness not just an aspiration. Our understanding of IMPACT is grounded in the belief that research outcomes should reach beyond the realm of pure academia and have an impact themselves across linguistic, cultural, political or economic borders. We are also mindful of the need to recognise that research outcomes are not all equally tangible in their impact and of the need therefore constantly to challenge institutional and public understandings of the concept.
With these goals in mind, we invite researchers from various disciplines to offer theoretically reliable and practically applicable frameworks for raising awareness of the fundamental importance that cross-cultural communication has today and will have in the future. Domains of application that CCP III will be particularly interested in include:
· Professional communication and negotiation
· Political and strategic negotiation
· Forensic linguistics and translation
· Access to justice and public services
· Translation and communication across arts and media
· Translation and communication in the globalised world of sport
· Interfaith dialogues
· Public debates about multi-/intercultural society
· Responses to cross- and intercultural crossings
· Other related topics.
The general framework for the conference will be provided by plenary papers delivered by distinguished scholars representing different languages and complementary perspectives: intercultural communication, intercultural and socio-pragmatics, translation and globalisation, translation and contrastive rhetoric, contrastive translation and psycholinguistics, discourse analysis and professional discourse.
By virtue of the conference theme and of the inbuilt inter-disciplinarity of cross-cultural pragmatics generally, proceedings will be informed by different methodological paradigms (e.g. cross- and intercultural pragmatics, socio-pragmatics, translation studies, interactional and critical discourse analysis, conversation analysis, linguistic typology, psycholinguistics, systemic functional linguistics, cognitive linguistics, sociolinguistics). Proposals, for individual papers (20 minutes) or proposer-led panels on a particular theme (90 to 150 minutes), will be expected clearly to identify their theoretical frame(s) of reference and methodological approach.
Outreach Event
Like its predecessor, CCP III will seek to foster the partnership between the University, its local host community and communities beyond with an end-of-conference Outreach Event that will bring together representatives from all these groups to share their views on the challenges of communication across languages and cultures. Details will be posted on the conference website.
Special Guests
In the world of Translation Studies and Intercultural Communication, the past few years have seen the rise of the idea of ‘otherness’, and attempts to understand how to build bridges to the ‘other’ worlds beyond Europe, such as Asia or Africa. Listening to the voices from other parts of the world can be an antidote not only to Anglocentrism, but also to the increasing risk of Eurocentrism. For this event, we are therefore delighted and honoured to count among our invited speakers two outstanding Japanese scholars, Makiko Mizuno and Minako O’Hagan, and to celebrate with them and with our new Centre for Japanese Studies at the UEA our commitment to promoting Japanese and Japanese Studies at the highest level.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
Abstract deadline: 15 November 2012
Language: English, French, Spanish
Proposal: 400-word anonymous abstract (800 words for panels) to be submitted through the Linguist List at http://linguistlist.org/confcustom/ccpIII2013. Titles should give an indication of the main question/s addressed, of the data and methodology used and of the language/s of application.
Organisers: Marie-Noëlle Guillot with Roger Baines, Luna Filipovìc, Clive Matthews, Andreas Musolff, Carlos de Pablos-Ortega, Giulio Pagani, Gabrina Pounds, Nana Sato-Rossberg, Alain Wolf
m.guillot@uea.ac.uk, r.w.baines@uea.ac.uk, l.filipovic@uea.ac.uk, clive.matthews@uea,ac,uk, a.musolff@uea.ac.uk, c.de-pablos@uea.ac.uk, g.pounds@uea.ac.uk,g.pagani@uea.ac.uk, N.Sato-Rossberg@uea.ac.uk, a.wolf@uea.ac.uk
School of Language and Communication Studies
University of East Anglia
Norwich Research Park
Norwich
NR4 7TJ
United Kingdom
Guest editors:Anna Strowe (University of Manchester)Richard Mansell (University of Exeter)Helle V. Dam (Aarhus University)This special issue focuses on the normative expectations around translators, including norms around translator identity, as well as around hiring or selection processes and understandings of competence or expertise. By applying the concept of norms to the area of translators and translatorship, we hope to connect conversations about the multiple intersecting systems of values that underpin those norms, often silently, ranging from beliefs about education, language skill, and qualification, to understandings of professionalism, economics, and translation itself, while continuing to explore the dimensions and qualities of translator identity and presentation. The norms themselves are at the centre of the topic, along with the values from which they emerge and with which they engage, but as with investigation of other types of norms, they must be extrapolated from available forms of data, for example texts by and about translators, or trends in hiring or training.As scholarship in translation studies has broadened, first from linguistic approaches to cultural and sociological approaches, and then to a focus on the translator, we have increasingly come to understand that we must view translation as a socially-situated practice or set of practices, carried out by agents whose behaviour and choices are influenced by a variety of external as well as internal factors. A large part of the focus has been on using this perspective to better understand the choices that are made in translating – that is, the specific textual decisions made by translators – but interest has also grown significantly in questions that move beyond textual choices and comparative textual analysis. There are significant threads of scholarship for example on the cultural or structural aspects of non-professional translation and interpreting (e.g. Antonini et al. 2017; Pérez-González and Susam-Saraeva 2012), the relationships between translation and activism (e.g. Boéri 2024; Gould and Tahmasebian 2020; Tymoczko 2010), and the impact of emerging technologies and digital spaces on perceptions of translatorship (e.g. Zhang et al. 2024), among many others.Norms have long been a productive tool for translation studies, but existing articulations and uses have focused on the translational norms that we understand as governing micro- and macro-level translation choices. Meylaerts (2008) discusses individual translators and their identities and profiles in relation to the norms of translation and the profession, following Simeoni (1998) in connecting these to Bourdieu’s notion of habitus. However, behaviour around translator identities and characteristics, such as hiring or self-presentation, can also be examined in terms of norms. In a recent article, Strowe (2024) suggests considering translator selection as norm-driven could help us better recognize the values and decisions around translator recruitment and deconstruct assumptions around translator choice and identity.These norms are reflected in patterns in hiring trends, the translation industry, job advertisements, and translators’ websites or blogs, for example, but they also inform a variety of aspects of how translatorship is constructed. The self-image and presentation or representation of translators is informed by beliefs about what responsibilities, tasks, and capacities are involved in being a translator, areas that intersect both with culturally constructed notions of what constitutes and delimits translation itself (see Tymoczko 2007) and with what forms of social, cultural, and legal understandings we have about various agents’ forms of responsibility for texts (see Bantinaki 2020; Pym 2011).The special issue will collect both empirical studies that explore areas related to translator norms, and articles exploring either the theorization of translator norms or the methodological possibilities of this kind of work. Potential questions to explore include (but are not limited to) the following:How might we theorize norms around translator identity, self-presentation, hiring etc.?What kinds of translator norms can be identified within the LSP industry or in other contexts in which translation is done?What differences are there in translator norms across different contexts or domains, and how do these differences affect practices of translation?How can we understand projections of translator image as a form of representation of translator norm? • How are translator norms changing in the face of developments in digital technology?What kinds of research methods facilitate the exploration of translator norms?This is an open call, and the editors particularly welcome proposals from researchers whose workintersects with translator identity or self-presentation;looks at industry expectations around translators and hiring practices;seeks to describe and delimit the spaces of human agency and identity around translation amidst the growing presence of AI.Submission Abstracts of up to 300 words should be submitted by November 24 to Anna Strowe by email (anna.strowe@manchester.ac.uk). Once invited to do so by the editors, selected authors will be asked to submit an article of between 7000 and 8000 words, including references, through the journal’s online portal no later than May 30, 2026.A full schedule of dates plus the bibliography is available here: https://benjamins.com/series/ts/callforpapers.pdf
Life Writing and Translation Thursday 18 – Friday 19 June 2026 University of Geneva Abstract of no more than 250 words (bibliography excluded) in English or French are now invited and should be submitted to lifewritingtranslation@unige.ch by 16 November 2025. Notifications of acceptance will be distributed at the beginning of February 2026. Please find more information on abstracts on the Conference website: https://www.humanmovement.cam.ac.uk/events/translating-conflict-and-refuge-language-displacement-and-politics-representation
APTIS25 Online Conference at the UCL Centre for Translation Studies (3–4 November 2025) “Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?” The UCL Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) is looking forward to hosting the APTIS25 online conference. The APTIS25 conference (“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”) will take place on 3–4 November 2025 via Zoom Webinar. We encourage submissions from both academic and industry speakers. Please see our Call for Contributions as well as the Types of Contributions section to know more about the contributions that APTIS25 will be welcoming. If you would like to contribute to APTIS25 by presenting a talk or a roundtable, please visit the Submit a Proposal section, where you will find the link to send your abstract. Please kindly refer to the Key Dates to know more about submission and registration deadlines. https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/aptis25ucl
APTIS25 Online Conference at the UCL Centre for Translation Studies (3–4 November 2025)“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”The UCL Centre for Translation Studies (CenTraS) is looking forward to hosting the APTIS25 online conference. The APTIS25 conference (“Better together: how can industry and academia collaborate to empower future language professionals?”) will take place on 3–4 November 2025 via Zoom Webinar.We encourage submissions from both academic and industry speakers. Please see our Call for Contributions as well as the Types of Contributions section to know more about the contributions that APTIS25 will be welcoming. If you would like to contribute to APTIS25 by presenting a talk or a roundtable, please visit the Submit a Proposal section, where you will find the link to send your abstract.Please kindly refer to the Key Dates to know more about submission and registration deadlines.https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/aptis25ucl
Hieronymus is the first Croatian journal dedicated exclusively to publishing research and professional articles in the field of translation studies and terminology. The journal has the following key goals: (1) to promote translation studies and terminology in Croatia and the broader region, where these two disciplines are not always recognized; and (2) to enhance local researchers’ visibility in the international translation studies community. For the Research Section of the journal, we welcome empirical studies with clear goals and well-defined methodology in any area of translation studies or terminology. In addition, papers presenting and discussing any area of professional translation or terminological practice are invited for the Professional section. Contributions by early career researchers (pre-Ph.D. or recently obtaining a Ph.D.) as well as young professionals are gladly accepted. In both sections of the journal, contributors from Croatia and the broader region are particularly welcome, in line with the journal’s mission outlined above. The preferred languages are English and Croatian. We accept submissions throughout the year, but for consideration in issue 12 (to be published in December 2025), submissions need to be sent by 30 March 2025 at the latest. Submissions will first be considered by the Editorial Team and, if they pass this initial screening, they will be forwarded for a double-blind peer review. Authors whose papers are accepted for publication must certify that their work has not been previously published. All papers are published in Open Access under the Creative Commons 4.0 open license. For information on citation style and formatting, please consult our Contributors page and Submission Guidelines. Please send your contributions to the following addresses: knikoli@ffzg.unizg.hr sveselic@ffzg.unizg.hr If you have any queries regarding this call, please do not hesitate to contact us
