Dear Colleague,

 

You are cordially invited to take part in the 28^th Obdobja International Symposium, organised by the Centre for Slovene as a Second/Foreign Language, the Department of Slovene Studies at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Arts, which will take place from 26th to 28^th November 2009.

 

The Obdobja Symposium is the central academic event in Slovene Studies, which has had, since its inception in 1979, a clear goal: to bring together the top domestic and international academics from both domains of Slovene Studies – linguistics and literary studies – so that they can exchange research findings and views on selected themes, and to invite representatives of other related disciplines, especially from the humanities and social sciences, to take part. In this way we can both ensure a broad synthesis of different lines of research and map out future research steps.

 

The main aim of the 28^th Symposium is clear from its title: to discuss the infrastructure of the Slovene language and of Slovene Studies as a discipline. The goal is to develop the concept of linguistic and academic infrastructure in the Slovene cultural space. The programme committee took as its starting point the hypothesis that these two concepts are separate, but at the same time inextricably linked; the first is intriguing from a theoretical point of view, whereas the second more from an organisational or business viewpoint, although it is also rich in terms of content. To date, these concepts have largely been seen as marginal and certainly inadequately structured. The notion of the relation between academic circles and the community or wider society has received little serious, research-based and critical consideration. The purpose of Slovene Studies is seen as somehow self-evident, as a given. As the basic 'national study' it is automatically assumed to be socially necessary and of value with regard to everything it does and has available (which is always, by definition, too little). All the activities of Slovene Studies are seen as supporting and facilitating the survival and development of Slovene as a language and of Slovene literature, and thus, ultimately, substantiating and clarifying the existence of Sloveneness itself. The symposium takes as its starting point an opposing hypothesis: that in the long term this self-evidence is damaging to the discipline, as with the mere symbolic justification of its existence it will rapidly lose its public role.

 

Over the last two decades the Slovene language and Slovene Studies have undergone dramatic development. Slovene has experienced a quantitative leap forward thanks to its new status and role linked to the political fate of the Republic of Slovenia, social change, and the new media and communication technologies. Slovene Studies has become an independent university discipline, which is stronger and more diverse, with new university and research centres contributing to a kind of internal competitiveness; and through the network of lectureships, combined study programmes and so on, it also has a much greater presence on the international university stage. The co-financing of postgraduate studies in Slovenia and the financing of junior researchers have vitally increased the number of individuals who, at least for a time, more intensively concern themselves with research questions connected with Slovene Studies themes. However, in spite of all this development and unquestionable research results it still seems that, with regard to achieving certain basic academic and professional goals, the discipline is still unable to find the best way to proceed. It even seems to be unable, in a sufficiently systematic, organised and coherent fashion, to discuss what its priorities are, let alone to identify those priorities and begin to implement them.

 

A good example of the lack of clarity of the priorities of language specialists in Slovenia is the Resolution on the national programme for language policy 2007–2011. But this document is at least a step towards conceptualising and ensuring the presence of language infrastructure as a complete entity – in public, most Slovene researchers defend and emphasise either their narrow research field or their specific research/university institution, presenting it in isolation as something essential to Slovene as a language and for the whole Slovene language community. Within such a framework, the synthesis of findings hovers uncertainly in a distant, hazy future.

 

The aim of the symposium debate about infrastructure is to make the academic research community aware that individual research and academic activities need to be integrated into a hierarchical structure if they are to offer the language community what it needs, not only for survival, but for quality of life. The first step towards our goal is the evaluation of the current state of the language infrastructure as well as for Slovene Studies as a discipline. Thus, for the purposes of the symposium, both linguistic and literary research should first be examined with regard to its relation to the community – for what or who it is intended, what results it will have, what is society's relation to Slovene Studies activities, and so on. The second step is to assess the community's needs – the needs of the speakers and readers of the language, of the individuals involved in communication. In so doing, we should not restrict ourselves only to the present, but should be prepared to re-open already closed chapters in the history of Slovene language and literature. As well as Slovene, we are also interested in condensed discussions or overviews of the infrastructure of other languages. At first glance, some may perceive such a practical approach as a threat to academic openness, innovation and autonomy, but it is worth a try: perhaps a practical approach to the broad academic and research issues in Slovene Studies will actually serve to strengthen the discipline and provide it with a new impetus.

 

Prof. Dr.

President of the 28^th Obdobja Symposium

 

The cited themes offer broad frameworks; particularly welcome are synthetic themes and multi-author contributions.

 

-          the concept of language infrastructure

-          language planning and language policy

-          Slovene language resources and course books

-          monolingual and bilingual dictionaries

-          grammars

-          corpora and language databases

-          acquiring language abilities

-          testing and certifying language abilities

-          analysis of the habits and needs of native speakers of Slovene

-          lectureships and language consultancy

-          Slovene as a second or foreign language

-          speakers of Slovene and their foreign language abilities

-          translating and interpreting

 

-          the relation between disciplines within Slovene Studies

-          the relation between Slovene Studies and other disciplines

-          the relation between academic, research and teaching institutions

           within Slovene Studies

-          critical analysis of university programmes in Slovene Studies

-          critical analysis of research and development projects in Slovene

           Studies, presentation of their results and implications

-          online access to Slovene Studies resources

-          critical analysis of curricula for Slovene language

-          critical analysis of approaches to the teaching of Slovene

-          critical analysis of academic and professional periodicals and books

           on Slovene Studies

-          professional and academic criticism within Slovene Studies

-          the functioning and effect of literary awards

 

University of Ljubljana, Kongresni trg 12, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

 

This year the proceedings will be printed before the symposium, so the application procedure, paper approval and submission rules are slightly different.

 

The deadline for applications with the submission of summaries (from 300 to 600 words) is 24 April 2009. The submission of applications and summaries will take place via the symposium website www.centerslo.net/simpozij (28^th Obdobja Symposium, Application Form). All applicants will be notified of the approval of their paper by 11 May 2009.

The deadline for submitting the paper in the prescribed electronic format (6-8 pages) is 10 July 2009. The participants will receive the format guidelines for their paper via e-mail. The guidelines will also be published on the symposium website.

 

All contributions will be peer reviewed prior to publication; participants will be informed about the outcome by 10 September 2009 at the latest.

Final versions of papers must be submitted by 20 September 2009.

 

20 September 2009 is also the deadline for the payment of the registration fee.

 

You are requested to adhere to the given deadlines for application, and for the submission of abstracts and papers, as the electronic application system does not allow for late application and submission of contributions.

 

The fee for taking part and presenting a paper is 60 EUR and includes a folder containing symposium material, the publication of the paper, the symposium proceedings, an excursion, lunches and event organisation. You will be sent an invoice via e-mail and you can pay it through a bank, post office or to the cashier at the Faculty of Arts, Aškerčeva 2 in Ljubljana, every day between 11.00 and 13.00 and on Wednesday also between 15.00 and 17.00. You are asked to notify us by e-mail at [email protected] when you have paid the registration fee.

 

The time allowed for the presentation of a paper is limited to 15 minutes. The working languages of the plenary sessions will be Slovene and English, while in thematic sections the use of other languages is possible upon agreement with the organiser.

 

Participants must book and cover the cost of accommodation themselves. Addresses of hotels are provided along with the approximate cost and dates for reservations. The symposium committee has available limited funds to cover the cost of accommodation, for which participants may apply, giving reasons, at registration.

 

· Application and submission of an abstract

  (300 to 600 words)                                         24 April 2009

 

· Notification to participants of accepted themes  11 May 2009

 

· Submission of the paper in the prescribed

  electronic format (6-8 pages)                          10 July 2009

 

· Notification of the referees' evaluation              by 10 September 2009

 

· Submission of the final version of the paper,

  payment of registration fee                             20 September 2009

 

, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

 

Kozma Ahačič, Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences and Arts

Aleksander Bjelčevič, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Ursula Doleschal, Alpen-Adria Universität Klagenfurt, Celovec

Tomaž Erjavec, Jožef Stefan Institute

Apolonija Gantar, Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences and Arts

Miran Hladnik, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Niko Jež, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Monika Kalin Golob, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences

Carmen Kenda - Jež, Research Institute of the Academy of Sciences and Arts

Simona Kranjc, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Simon Krek, Amebis d. o. o.

Erika Kržišnik, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Vesna Mikolič, University of Primorska, Faculty of Humanities Koper

Martina Ožbot, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Anita Peti Stantić, Univerza v Zagrebu, Faculty of Arts

Nataša Pirih Svetina, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

Erich Prunč, Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Gradec

Darinka Verdonik, University of Maribor, Faculty of Electronics and Computer

     Science

Primož Vitez, University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Arts

 

 

 

Hotel Emonec**

Wolfova 12, Ljubljana

Tel.: + 386 1 200 15 20

Fax: +386 1 200 15 21

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.hotel-emonec.com

Single room with breakfast: 58 EUR + tourist tax (reference Obdobja Symposium)

Double room with breakfast: 38 EUR + tourist tax (reference Obdobja Symposium)

Reservation deadline: 15 September 2009

Distance from the University: 5 min

 

Pri Mraku***

Rimska cesta 4, Ljubljana