Section 9: Linguistics
Theoretical and applied linguistics.
“The profusion and variety of opinions, how they serve a scholarship in full bloom, can only be grasped by one who himself adheres to the phenomenon of voice. That language proffers many facets to the observer is made apparent by the diversity of paths to which he seeks entry, and by the different views of one object of study. I am convinced that no earnest effort is in vain, no conception fully false. It is human nature for a researcher to be somewhat enamoured of one view of the object of study, the one that first proffered itself to him, or even perhaps to him before any other, and so his focus tends in one direction. However, it is the amalgamation of these one-sided views to which we owe our current knowledge of the subject of language. In order for this knowledge to be real and stay vital, the conversation between the ‘directions’ must not be broken off.” (Provisional translation of German original from Porzig, W. "Vorwort zur zweiten Auflage". Jecklin, A. and H. Rupp (eds.). Das Wunder der Sprache. Probleme, Methoden und Ergebnisse der Sprachwissenschaft. Tübingen: Franke Verlag, 1986.)
This section truly distinguishes itself through a “profusion and variety” of concepts coming from branches of theoretical and applied linguistics and from as far back as the 16th century, and draws on the fields of German, English, and romance and slavic studies. Our goal is to spot points of contact between the ostensibly divergent subject matter of participants, and to deepen our understanding of them in conversations that explore what lies beneath the surface. We start with the formal presentation and discussion of individual projects and, over the course of constructive dialogues, reveal logical paths for their continued progress.
Section leaders:
- Katarzyna Wisniewiecka-Brückner
- Svetlomira Rogatcheva