[Dino] CFP: Noises and Voices. Languages, Media, the Arts in Nordic Literatures

[Heidi Grönstrand]

The extended deadline for abstract submissions is approaching!
The deadline is April 30, 2016.
Please submit your abstract to noisesandvoices at utu.fi. 

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4th DINO (Diversity in Nordic Literature) Conference:
CFP: Noises and Voices. Languages, Media, the Arts in Nordic Literatures
October 6–7, 2016
At the University of Turku, Finland

What are the new repertoires or new kinds of languages in literature? Is literary multilingualism to be understood as a purely linguistic phenomenon in literature, or could it also encompass other media and arts? When does a language become noise? How do we analyze and conceptualize the use of vernacular languages in contemporary literature? The Noises and Voices conference wishes to explore multilingualism in the Nordic literary field from different angles, in its texts, literary canons, genres, and national literatures.
        
Languages might turn up in unexpected places and assume different guises. Literature mixes the verbal with the visual, words with images. Even words themselves have a visual component that is not semantic. Literature produces sound, either in terms of an imagined inner voice or as verbalized text. The tactile dimension is also to be considered in the context of the different sensory registers of literature. Literature speaks through and to all the senses. 

We are inviting papers and panels focusing, for example, on the following aspects: 
-       The connection of literature to other media and arts, especially highlighting the themes of silences, noises, and voices in literature as well as the theoretical and methodological approaches that are necessary for dealing with them. 
-       The concept of “voice”, which has a long research tradition in literary studies, especially in the field of minority literature studies, indigenous people’s studies, gender studies, and animal studies. How is it applied in contemporary literary studies? Whose voice is heard and whose is silenced? If a language cannot be verbalized, how is it then expressed? How is a wounded language used for communication? When does silence become a form of resistance and point of departure for aesthetic innovations?
-       Dimensions of translation, as translation often is employed in multilingual literature. Writers address their work to multiple audiences by translating it into another language. Important cases in point are minority literatures that can often only be heard through translations. 
-       The effects of multilingual literature on the literary field, for example, on its values and publishing practices. In what kind of context is multilingualism regarded as strange and distracting? When is it valued as an aesthetic asset?

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We invite scholars to give a 20-minute presentation on these and other related topics. You may submit an abstract in English of no more than 200 words (with your affiliation and contact information) by  April 30, 2016. We will notify you of our decision by the beginning of May, 2016. 

Please send your proposal as an attached file to the address noisesandvoices at utu.fi. 

Confirmed Keynote Speakers: 
Hassan Blasim
Helena Bodin
Cia Rinne

Hassan Blasim is a filmmaker and short story writer. He was born in Baghdad in 1973, but has lived in Finland since 2004. He writes in Arabic but his books have been translated to several languages, including Danish, Finnish, Icelandic and Swedish. Hassan’s debut collection in English, The Madman of Freedom Square was published in 2009. His second collection, The Iraqi Christ was published in 2013. In 2014, it was announced the winner of the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize – the first Arabic title ever to win the award and the first short story collection ever to win the award. In the same year, a selection of stories from both of his two collections was published in the USA , by Penguin USA, under the title The Corpse Exhibition.  In 2015 Blasim was awarded the highly esteemed Finland Prize.

Helena Bodin is Associate Professor in Literature at the Department of Culture and Aesthetics at Stockholm University (Sweden) and The Newman Institute (Uppsala, Sweden). Her research concerns the functions of literature at boundaries such as between languages, nations, arts and media. Bodin has particularly studied modern literature's engagement with the Byzantine Orthodox Christian tradition, from the various perspectives of cultural semiotics, intermedial studies, and translation studies, including aspects of multilingualism. She has published the monographs Bruken av Bysans (2011, Uses of Byzantium), including chapters on Hagar Olsson and Tito Collliander, and Ikon och ekfras (2013, Icon and ekphrasis) .

Cia Rinne (b. 1973) is a transnational poet and artist, living in Berlin. Her writing is intensely multilingual, as well as exposing  the material qualities of language – its auditive as well as visual  aspects – and takes place on multiple material levels: in the shape of  printed poetry collections (zaroum, 2001, notes for soloists, 2009);  
in digital, online versions (archives zaroum, 2008); as sound collages  
(sounds for soloists, 2011, together with Sebastian Eskildsen); she has also written about  different Roma communities in The Roma Journeys/Die Romareisen  
(2007/2009, together with Joakim Eskildsen). 2016 sees the publication  
of Rinne's newest collection of poetry, l’usage du mot (oei editör) 



Conference Website:  http://monikielisyys.fi/fi/noises-and-voices/

Organizers: 
The Steering Committee for the research network Diversity in Nordic Literatures (DINO): Satu Gröndahl, Uppsala University and Sámi University College; Heidi Grönstrand, University of Turku; Vuokko Hirvonen, Sámi University College;  Markus Huss, Södertörn University; Olli Löytty, University of Turku; Elisabeth Oxfeldt, University of Oslo.

The Multilingualism in Contemporary Literature in Finland project (Kone Foundation),  University of Turku  www.monikielisyys.fi

For further information, please contact:
Heidi Grönstrand heigro at utu.fi
Ralf Kauranen ralf.kauranen at utu.fi
Kukku Melkas kukku.melkas at utu.fi
Olli Löytty olselo at utu.fi
Julia Tidigs julia.tidigs at helsinki.fi


The conference is funded by the Kone Foundation (Koneen Säätiö), the Nordic Culture Fund (Nordisk Kulturfond), Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation (Kulturfonden för Sverige-Finland).