When: March 9-10, 2023

Where: Asheville, NC 

Deadline for abstracts: Dec. 5, 2022

The 25th SCFLLF will be held in Asheville, North Carolina, on March 9-10, 2023, hosted by Western Carolina University and the University of South Florida. Abstracts for papers (and panels) are now being considered. 

SCFLLF welcomes papers on all aspects of literature, linguistics, culture, philosophy, cultural history, film, applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and pedagogy pertaining to non-English languages (ancient and modern). We would like to encourage--but not limit--submissions addressing our conference theme: Public Spheres – Past/Present/Future, in its broadest understanding. This includes, but is not limited to, the concept as defined by German philosopher Jürgen Habermas, who originally coined the term, as "made up of private people gathered together as a public and articulating the needs of society with the state." More recently, Gerard A. Hauser’s expanded this concept as "a discursive space in which individuals and groups associate to discuss matters of mutual interest and, where possible, to reach a common judgment about them." Furthermore, Nancy Fraser has pointed out that the public sphere was marked by a hegemonic tendency and a "number of significant exclusions." As such, papers on topics dealing with public discourse, shared experiences, public opinion, global public spheres, as well as the opposite, the private sphere, in all its manifestations, are welcome. In order to adapt this sociological concept to a humanities realm we welcome papers on how literature, visual and online media, and art, comment on and even intervene in public spheres dominated by other media, as well as how they represent such disruptions.

• *  public spheres (e.g., mass media and social media) in literature, film, and works of art
• *  public and private spheres prior to the Age of Enlightenment
• *  public functions and space in the ancient world
• *  the language of debating, deliberating, and coercing (linguistic or philosophical considerations)
• *  the way information is deliberated in various public spheres, the question of global public spheres, especially in light of technology, financialization, global capital, etc. 
• *  artistic works that engage with public spheres or are discussed in public spheres (including speculative fiction, documentary and non-fiction, and public art projects)
• *  ways of avoiding, rejecting, retreating from the public sphere
• *  from town squares to salons to TikTok; public spheres and their influence over society and policy throughout the ages 
• *  issues of gender, sexuality, gender identity, and diversity in conflict or empowered by public spheres
• *  issues of reproduction, attending to the young, the sick, and the elderly as part of public and private sphere
• *  representations of hegemony and exclusion in public and private spheres
• *  the language “classroom” as public sphere (e.g., forums, apps, online content, etc.)
• *  language(s) and the public spheres (in mass media, at work, in social media, in literature & visual media, etc.)
• *  analyses of institutional discourse in the public sphere
• *  the public sphere and digital media: user-generated content and its audiences, language and social media influencers, creation of new forms of public spheres in digital media platforms, virtual communities based on shared experience (in)capable of political action