Corpus Linguistics 2013
Lancaster University, UK – 22nd to 26th July 2013
Fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative Language: Metaphor and Austerity
This fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative Language will consist of a day-long colloquium including oral presentations (20 + 10 minutes), a poster session, plus a round-table discussion chaired by members of the organizing committee. It is the organizers' intention to showcase original research into the figurative language associated with Austerity in its many guises and in various spheres of life, and to stimulate interdisciplinary debate between established and early-career researchers who are investigating Austerity in corpus data. Proposals are therefore welcome on any aspect of figurative language relevant to the central theme of Austerity, including, but not limited to, the economy, work and unemployment, immigration and asylum seeking, social inclusion and exclusion. Given the dominance of English in the literature on metaphor, research dealing with other languages will be particularly welcome, whether contrastive or otherwise.
ORGANIZERS
John BARNDEN - University of Birmingham, UK
Mark LEE - University of Birmingham, UK
Rosamund MOON - University of Birmingham, UK
Gill PHILIP (principal organizer) - University of Macerata, Italy
Alan WALLINGTON - Bangor University, UK
Christopher SHANK - Bangor University, UK
PUBLICATION DETAILS
Extended peer-reviewed abstracts will be published concurrently with the workshop (see Call for Papers for details). The organizers also intend to prepare an edited volume containing selected papers on Metaphor and Austerity.
CALL FOR PAPERS
(Now closed)
Fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative Language: Metaphor and Austerity
Corpus Linguistics 2013 pre-conference workshop
Place: Lancaster University, UK
Date: Monday 22nd July
Metaphor and Austerity
The West is settling into a new age of austerity: the "NICE"('non-inflationary consistent expansion', Kitson et al. 2011) economy has turned "VILE" ('volatile inflation, little expansion', ibid.), and the economic and social fall-out is now becoming visible. Unemployment, redundancy, inflation, recession, insecurity, and poverty all loom, causing governments, businesses and individuals to re-evaluate their priorities.
A changing world changes attitudes, and the earliest manifestations of such change can often be found in figurative language. Political rhetoric attempts to sweeten the bitter pill that nations have no choice but to swallow; all are invited to share the pain, make sacrifices for the common good, and weather the storm. But more sinister undertones can also be perceived. In times of social and financial dire straits, scapegoats are sought and mercilessly pursued in the press. The elderly, unemployed, and disabled are under fire for "sponging off the state"; and as jobs become scarcer and the tax bill rises, migrant populations and asylum seekers are viewed with increasing suspicion and resentment. Calls for a "big society" fall on deaf ears. Society, it seems, is shrinking as self-preservation takes hold.
This fifth Interdisciplinary Workshop on Corpus-Based Approaches to Figurative Language will consist of a day-long colloquium including oral presentations (20 + 10 minutes), a poster session, plus a round-table discussion chaired by members of the organizing committee. It is the organizers' intention to showcase original research into the figurative language associated with Austerity in its many guises and in various spheres of life, and to stimulate interdisciplinary debate between established and early-career researchers who are investigating Austerity in corpus data. Proposals are therefore welcome on any aspect of figurative language relevant to the central theme of Austerity, including, but not limited to, the economy, work and unemployment, immigration and asylum seeking, social inclusion and exclusion. Given the dominance of English in the literature on metaphor, research dealing with other languages will be particularly welcome, whether contrastive or otherwise.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Extended abstracts for 20 minute talks (1500-2000 words, excluding references) and for posters (1000-1250 words, excluding references) should be sent in an email attachment to Gill Philip by 31 January 2013. Following notification of acceptance, participants will be invited to resubmit their abstracts for inclusion in the peer-reviewed workshop proceedings which will be published concurrently with the workshop.
IMPORTANT DATES
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 31 January 2013
Notification of acceptance: 5 March 2013
Deadline for revised abstracts: 14 May 2013
Workshop: 22 July 2013
Timetable
| 9:00-9:30am | Registration and welcome |
| 9:30-11:00am | Malgorzata Paprota -- Not a Safety Net: Metaphors of the welfare state in times of austerity in a corpus of British (and Polish) newspaper articles
Elena Negrea-Busuioc -- What does austerity ‘look’ like? An analysis of visual metaphors in three newspaper cartoons depicting the Eurozone crisis Davida Fromm et al. -- Interpretation of Metaphors in Four Languages: Some Psycholinguistic Experiments |
| 11:00-11:30am | Tea and coffee break |
| 11:30am-1:00pm | Susie Caruso -- Metaphorical Representations of Immigrants in the Italian Press in Times of Economic Crisis
Olympia Tsaknaki & Eleni Tziafa -- "Democracy’s Cradle, Rocking the World”: Figurative language regarding the Greek crisis |
| 1:00-2:00pm | Lunch |
| 2:00-3:30pm | Hanno Biber -- Austerity in the Thirties and the Consequences. Examples of Figurative German Language from the AAC Austrian Academy Corpus
Laura Cariola -- Exploring the embodied basis of political discourse types Augusto Soares da Silva -- Obese bodies, indebted families, and good students: Metaphors of austerity in the Portuguese press |
| 3:30-4:00pm | Tea and coffee break |
| 4:00-6:00pm | Patrick Hanks -- The Mechanics of metaphor
Round Table discussion -- Rosamund Moon, Gill Philip, Patrick Hanks |
References
M. Kitson, R. Martin & P. Tyler. 2011. The geographies of austerity. Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society 4. 289-302.