Language – Culture – Literature:

East African Perspective

May 23-24, 2019

University of Warsaw, Poland

Venue: University of Warsaw Library, ul. Dobra 56/66, Warsaw

Contact e-mail: conf.orient@uw.edu.pl

Programme of the Conference

Call for Papers

Department of African Languages and Cultures, University of Warsaw, invites submission of abstracts for an international conference to be held at the University of Warsaw, Poland.

The relation between language and culture has received a lot of attention in academic scholarship of the recent decades with a conclusion that cultural and linguistic experiences are interconnected and mutually affect each other. Cultural practices and values which societies “live by” are reflected in linguistic structures through metaphors and other conceptualizations (e.g. image and event schemas, frames and scripts). They are entrenched in everyday linguistic usage, clichés and frequent expressions, oral and written literature. At the same time, their manifestations in frequent use lead to emergence of “cultural cognition” and provide cultural models to follow and possibly develop in novel ways.

The conference will focus on language-culture relationship in Kiswahili and other languages of East Africa inviting scholars of linguistics, literature and broad areas of cultural studies.

Suggested topics for presentations may cover cultural conceptualizations in:

• Linguistic structures and usage patterns
• Discourse and communication strategies
• Cultural keywords and values
• Grammaticalization processes
• Lexical categorization
• Expression of emotions
• Gestures and sign languages
• Idioms, clichés, frequent expressions
• Proverbs, riddles, enigmas
• Various literary genres
• Journalistic texts, comics and caricatures
• New media communication (WhatsApp, social media content)
• Translation and second language teaching

Each paper will be given 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for discussion.

Please send abstracts (a named version and an anonymous version, preferably in the pdf format) at: conf.orient@uw.edu.pl

Abstracts should not exceed 500 words, but a separate page with references may be added. Abstracts and papers should be in English.

Invited Keynote Speakers:

Prof. Bernd Heine

Prof. Aldin K. Mutembei

Mr. Patrick Gathara 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

Discussion panel:

Date: 25 May 2019 at 11:00

Venue: Koszykowa Library, ul. Koszykowa 26/28, Warsaw

FREE, FAIR AND … TWEETED ELECTIONS?

THE ROLE OF MEDIA IN DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES

News, tweets, viral videos, millions of social media users, fake news and fake experts have become the essential part of the contemporary media. The panel discussion (May 25th, Koszykowa Library), with invited experts and journalists from East Africa and Poland, will focus on the new media and its role in changing the modern world.

Exhibition:

Date: 25 -31 May 2019

Venue: Koszykowa Library, ul. Koszykowa 26/28, Warsaw

GADO’S CARICATURES

The conference will be accompanied by an exhibition of caricatures by Godfrey “GADO” Mwampembwa, the distinguished Tanzanian journalist and cartoonist living in Kenya, the recipient of the Kenya Human Rights Commission “2018 Lifetime Achievement” award in journalism. His works have been published in Kenya, France, Germany and United Kingdom. For the first time GADO’s caricatures will be shown in Poland.

Important dates

Conference dates: 23-24 May, 2019

Deadline for abstract submission: 1 January, 2019 NEW 15 January, 2019

Notification of papers acceptance: 20 January, 2019

Deadline of fee payment: 20 April, 2019

Conference Organizing Committee:

Iwona Kraska-Szlenk (Ph.D., Dr. Habil.)

Beata Wójtowicz (Ph.D.)

Maria Piotrowska (M.A.)

Izabela Romańczuk (M.A.)

Registration Fee:

The registration fee will cover workshop materials, refreshments during coffee breaks and lunches.

Regular fee: 100 euro

Student’s fee: 60 euro

Conference fee should be paid by bank transfer before 20 April, 2019 to the University of Warsaw bank account. Please indicate the acronym of the conference and your name in the transfer description, i.e.: “LCL2019, conference fee for Mr/Ms.. ................”

name of the account holder: Uniwersytet Warszawski Wydział Orientalistyczny

address of the account holder: Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, PL 00-927 Warszawa

name of the bank: Bank Millenium

SWIFT (BIC):  BIGBPLPW

account no. PL 10 1160 2202 0000 0000 4989 5290

Conference webpage: http://www.afrykanistyka.uw.edu.pl/conferences/lcl2019-1

Accommodation:

The easiest way to book accommodation in Warsaw is to use one of the international hotel booking websites such as Booking.com or Trivago.

All major international hotel companies such as Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton, Campanile etc. have their hotels in Warsaw, however these are usually located within 20-30 minutes bus ride from the University of Warsaw camps.

Some of the hotels located in the immediate vicinity of the conference venue are: Sofitel Warsaw Victoria, Dom Literatury, Fest Hostel, Harenda, Hostel Helvetia.

We can offer a limited number of rooms at HERA hotel situated at Belwederska 26/30 street. It is a University of Warsaw guesthouse situated at the heart of Warsaw, close to the popular Łazienki Park with good access to other parts of the city. There is a reliable and steady public transportation from HERA to the university campus. The price of a single room (with a lavatory and a wash basin) at HERA is 80 PLN per night. Please note that these are reduced prices for University of Warsaw guests upon the condition that we make room reservation for you. If you intend to stay at the HERA hotel, please send us the exact schedule of your arrival and departure not later than 15 February 2019 so that we can make the booking for you.