Theme

Linguistic Landscapes, Cultural Climates
Mazingira Ya Lugha, Hali Ya Hewa Ya Kitamaduni

The framing of language and speech communities within particular geographical and cultural localities, and within boundaries of tradition and heritage, always constitutes an arduous task. However, this becomes intensified in African contexts, in that language and cultural mixing and switching is highly common, if not normative practice, as vital to an African politics of identity. A continuous Bakhtinian re-stylizing of previous language practices then, mediates cultural practices of new generations, while this re-stylizing becomes complexified by new and intensified mobilities, technologies, return migration, multimodalities, (continuously) rewritten historiographies, colonized and decolonized ideologies, innovative scholarly work, and so forth.

The intertwining of the many channels of this eclectic re-stylizing can best, or maybe only, be deciphered anthropologically. And why not through a lens of cultural scapes and climates, where new communities identify with cultural patterns and cultural subjectivities? Again, this becomes an arduous task in African regions, where so much mixing and switching, as normative practice, occurs. Concurrently, the complexity of each and every society in (sub) Urban Africa makes for an infinitely fertile ethnography of language and cultural community, to inform our knowledge of the linguistic landscapes of African countries and regions.

The GLOCAL AFALA 2023 theme, “Linguistic Landscapes, Cultural Climates,” “Mazingira Ya Lugha, Hali Ya Hewa Ya Kitamaduni,” well symbolizes the complexity of the complex set of inter-subjective identities throughout African urban and suburban centres. These increasingly complex climates become a highly fertile ground for Linguistic Anthropological scholarly attention, while scholars can draw from a range of peripheral yet pertinent fields to inform work on these geographical and cultural localities.

The GLOCAL AFALA 2023 thus invites work which addresses the complexity of African Linguistic Landscapes and their Cultural Climates. Papers and posters should acknowledge and describe processes of Linguistic complexity at these cultural centres, that is, of African regions, and by those working in African regions.

Dates

Day 1 – October 18, 2023
Day 2 – October 19, 2023
Day 3 – October 20, 2023
Day 4 (Anthropological Excursion) – October 21, 2023

Speakers

Lutz Marten

Languages, Cultures and Linguistics
SOAS University of London
London

Professor Lutz Marten is professor of linguistics at SOAS University of London. Since 2020, he has sat in the role of editor of the Transactions of the Philological Society. Lutz Marten is interested in human language: how language is structured and used, how languages differ and change over time, and how language is linked to culture, society, history, identity, and other domains of human life, but focusing on descriptive, comparative and theoretical linguistics, empirically grounded.

Helga Schröder

Department of Linguistics and Languages
University of Nairobi
Kenya

Helga Schröder is the associate professor and senior lecturer of Linguistics and African Languages at the University of Nairobi, her specialization areas are Morpho-syntax–discourse interface, pragmatics, Relevance Theory, intercultural communication, Chomsky’s Minimalist Programme . Research interests of Helga Schröder includes VSO languages Nilotic languages, Ergativity in Africa, Ergative origins of Nilotic languages, clause-chaining in Nilotic languages, conceptual and procedural interface in pragmatics.

Citations and Publications

Citations

All proceedings will be channeled through SCOPUS citation indexing. Here, papers submitted to the GLOCAL AFALA 2023 proceedings will be channeled for SCOPUS ranking and citation.

Publications

All papers submitted to the GLOCAL AFALA 2023 will be considered for review for publication in Top Tier journals and monographs.

Location

Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies
University of Nairobi
1 Kipande Road
Nairobi
Kenya

Chronology

AFALA 2023 Final Abstract and poster proposal submission

Opens: April 2, 2023
Closes: August 15, 2023

Notification of acceptance

No later than August 25, 2023

Registration

Early bird registration

Opens: October 20, 2022
Closes: February 28, 2023

Normal bird registration

Opens: February 29, 2023
Closes: June 25, 2023

Presenters will need to have registered for The AFALA by no later than August 30, 2023, to guarantee a place in the program. Registration will remain open after this date, but the conference organizers can not guarantee placement in the conference.

Late bird registration

Opens: June 26, 2023
Closes: October 4, 2023

Dates

Day 1: Wednesday October 18, 2023
Day 2: Thursday October 19, 2023
Day 3: Friday October 20, 2023
Day 4: Saturday October 21, 2023 – Full day of optional cultural tour (separate cost)

Strands

Abstract and poster proposals should address one or more of the key strands related to African countries and regions:

  • Anthropological Linguistics
  • Applied Sociolinguistics
  • Buddhist Studies and Discourses
  • Cognitive Anthropology and Language
  • Critical Linguistic Anthropology
  • Ethnographical Language Work
  • Ethnography of Communication
  • General Sociolinguistics
  • Islamic Studies and Discourses
  • Language, Community, Ethnicity
  • Language Contact and Change
  • Language, Dialect, Sociolect, Genre
  • Language Documentation
  • Language, Gender, Sexuality
  • Language Ideologies
  • Language Minorities and Majorities
  • Language Revitalization
  • Language in Real and Virtual Spaces
  • Language Socialization
  • Language and Spatiotemporal Frames
  • Multifunctionality
  • Narrative and Metanarrative
  • Nonverbal Semiotics
  • Pedagogical Anthropology
  • Poetics
  • Structuralism and Language
  • Semiotics and Semiology
  • Social Psychology of Language
  • Text, Context, Entextualization

Submissions

Presentation Lengths

Submitters must plan around the following:

  • Colloquia – 1.5 hours with 3-5 contributors (Part A and B is possible, thus 6-10 contributors)
  • General paper sessions – Approx. 20-25 minutes each, which includes 5 minutes for questions/responses
  • Posters – to be displayed at designated times throughout the GLOCAL AFALA 2023

Abstract Submission Guidelines

Submission of proposals for papers, posters, and colloquia should be completed via the online submission website, or by email

  • 18-word maximum presentation title
  • 400-word maximum abstract, including references
  • Colloquia: Upload the abstract for the colloquium, in the submissions box. The abstract must contain both the main description of the colloquium, as well as a summarized description of each individual paper to be presented within the colloquium. This information must include the names and affiliations of each author and presenter, the title of each respective session/presentation, as well as any other information believed relevant.
  • For individual papers submitted for review and acceptance into the general sessions, the first author will be the nominated ‘Corresponding Author’, but can also be a ‘Presenting author’ when completing the profile.
  • Each author must also confirm their role: Presenting author, non-presenting author, chair, or discussant.

Evaluation of proposals

Proposals for individual papers, posters, and colloquia will be evaluated by the GLOCAL AFALA Review Committee, with criteria as follows:

  • Appropriateness and significance of the topic to GLOCAL AFALA themes
  • Originality/significance/impact of the research
  • Clarity/coherence of research concerns, theoretical and analytical framework(s), description of research, data collection, findings/conclusions, rhetoric, and exegesis as a whole
  • For colloquia, importance/significance of the overarching topic and/or framework(s) addressed, and its coherence of and with individual presentations.
  • All abstracts for presentations within the colloquia will not be peer reviewed by the AFALA review committee, but are expected to be at a standard commensurate to the parent colloquium abstract, which will be peer reviewed by the GLOCAL AFALA review committee. Thus, the acceptance of the colloquium, and hence all presentations and discussions within that colloquium, becomes predicated on the success of the review of the main proposal for that colloquium, submitted by the main organizers of the respective colloquium.
  • All abstracts for general sessions, which are selected and placed by the GLOCAL AFALA selection committee, will be double blind reviewed.

Conditions of Submissions

  • A participant may be first author/presenter in a maximum of two presentations, be it individual papers, posters, or papers within colloquia.
  • In addition, a participant may act as chair, discussant, or co-author in one further presentation.
  • Alternatively, participants may act as first author/presenter in one presentation, and chair, discussant, or co-author in a maximum of two other presentations.
  • All proposals must present or interpret original work otherwise yet unavailable.
  • The language of the GLOCAL AFALA 2023 is English. However, abstracts may be submitted in any language, but together with an English translation.
  • Presenters can present in any language, but must prepare an English translation for the presentation.
  • The GLOCAL AFALA Committee will assign all relevant schedules to accepted individuals and groups.
  • Presenters must register and pay prior to August 30, 2023, to confirm their place at the GLOCAL AFALA 2023, and hence for their presentations to be confirmed in the program.
  • Presenters are required to organize their own travel and accommodation arrangements. The GLOCAL AFALA Organizers have secured accommodation at various locations around the city (see link for accommodation), details of which will be available for booking when registering for the GLOCAL AFALA 2023

Presentations

Colloquia

  • 1.5 hours with 3-5 contributors
  • Colloquia provide an opportunity for several presenters within the boundaries of a theme or topic to present together in a supportive environment. Colloquium organizers can tailor time lengths to each presentation, but must allow time to include opening and closing remarks, presentations, and audience interaction.
  • The colloquium chair is responsible for organizing the group and for submitting the colloquium in the Call for Papers platform on behalf of all their contributors.
  • All colloquium submissions must be uploaded to the submission site using the Colloquium Submission Form Template provided.
  • Panel organizers here will be responsible for panel chairs. Time keepers will be provided by the The GLOCAL AFALA.

General and Non-colloquia Session Papers

  • Paper presentations will be allocated 25 minutes including 5 minutes for questions and answers.
  • Time keepers will be provided by The GLOCAL AFALA 2023

Posters

  • Posters will be displayed at designated times throughout The GLOCAL AFALA 2023
  • Posters are for one-on-one discussion of a symposium-related theme or topic.
  • A block of time will be allocated for presenters to discuss their posters.
  • Posters will be displayed in the designated areas (main halls).
  • Presenters will be assigned a space to display their poster.
  • Posters should be sized A0: 841 x 1189 mm width x height/ 33.1 x 46.8 inches width x height (landscape or portrait).
  • Submissions should contain a summary of key elements for the presentation.
  • Posters can include any relevant visuals or academically descriptive objects, where color is visually optimal.
  • Posters must be clear, concise, and simple, with large fonts, with the title of the project, and author information (name and affiliation).

Fees

Students/Affiliates:

Early Bird: USD 70
Regular Bird: USD 100
Late Bird: USD 130

Others:

Early Bird: USD 150
Regular Bird: USD 180
Late Bird: USD 210

Excursion: USD 60

The conference fee includes a daily buffet lunch, daily morning and afternoon break refreshments, and one buffet dinner with a cultural show. The conference hotel, and most hotels in Nairobi, Kenya, where participants may choose to stay, will include a breakfast buffet with the room rate. The 21st October optional anthropological excursion is priced separately.