Call for Papers: Deadline 31 December 2020
Our conference invites contributions that, among others, address the following questions:
- Which factors influence intra-writer variation in historical writing? How can we assess 'free variation'?
- Can the concepts of intra-speaker or stylistic variation in modern sociolinguistics be applied to historical data?
- In which kind of historical data can we find intra-writer variation?
- Can effective style-shifting and the scope of a stylistic repertoire be connected to communicative competence and education?
- How can we distinguish stylistic from social variation in historical data?
- Is it possible to aggregate local findings of stylistic variation and combine qualitative with quantitative approaches?
- Does the analysis of stylistic variation in writing allow us to observe language change in progress? Can an approach to language history ‘from below’ benefit from stylistic variation?
- How does intra-writer variation evolve over the lifespan of historical writers?
- What roles do style-shifting and individual language use play within historical social networks and communities of practice?
- Do we have access to metalinguistic discourses on register awareness and (ideologies of) historical styles?
- How can electronic corpora and digital methods be used to assess individual variation?
The conference will take place on Zoom. Presentations will be 20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion. Presenters may choose between a live and a pre-recorded presentation; the discussions will all be live (webcam and microphone required). Technical details will follow.
Please send your abstracts of up to 400 words (including references) to
conference-hison2021@fau.de
by 31 December 2020.
You will be notified of your paper's acceptance by 15 January.