This conference, to be held at the University of Helsinki (Finland) between 16th and 18th December 2013, will highlight research on language extinction and revitalisation, with special emphasis on the minority languages of the Russian Federation and the European Union. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the conference aims to bring together perspectives from fields such as contact linguistics, sociolinguistics, language planning, anthropology and language legislation.
As the conference organisers point out:
While language use in most minority communities in both the EU and the Russian Federation is in decline, […] some language communities, such as Sámi, Basque, and Welsh-speakers, have effectively succeeded in revitalizing their languages. From the point of view of preserving the world’s linguistic heritage, it is of great importance to learn from such achievements, as well as from the much more numerous failures in language revitalization.
Call for papers
Submissions are invited for papers (20 minutes plus 10 minutes discussion) and posters by interested researchers working in linguistics and the social sciences, as well as by jurists and language activists. Research on the status and development of understudied minority languages and communities of Russia is especially welcome. A non-exhaustive list of topics includes:
- The development of the current situations of particular minority languages (e.g. language attrition and revitalization)
- Comparison of Russia and the EU as multilingual cultural areas
- Comparative analysis of the reasons behind the fate of different language communities
- Theory and methodology of language revitalization; prerequisites for and obstacles to language revitalization
- Modernization and urbanization and their effects on minority linguistic identities and communities
- Minority activists vs. minority communities; the emergence of language ideologies of language activists and the effects of their work
- Minorities within a minority and the emergence of new minority languages vis-à-vis multiple minority identities
Anonymous abstracts (max. 500 words, excl. data and references) should be submitted through the EasyAbs submission service. Submissions are limited to two per author, at least one of which is to be co-authored.
Important Dates:
Submission deadline: 15 May 2013
Notification of acceptance: 30 June 2013
Registration deadline: 30 September 2013
Conference: 16-18 December 2013
Additional information can be found at the conference website.