2nd LINEE Conference: Multilingualism in the public sphere
Dubrovnik, 4 – 6 May 2012
The 2nd LINEE Conference: “Multilingualism in the public sphere” was held in Dubrovnik, 4 – 6 May 2012. Following on the first LINEE conference “New Challenges for Multilingualism”, held in Dubrovnik in 2010, the aim of the conference was to continue to critically examine the concept of multilingualism in the context of complex cultural and linguistic diversity characterized by mobility, migration and minorities, and to propose further theoretical and research perspectives.
The conference brought together researchers who investigate plurilingual communication from a perspective that seeks to critically address power relations and includes different types of public spaces as concrete empirical settings, each with their specific contribution to communication across linguistic and cultural boundaries, such as: public places (shops, markets, tourist sites); field of economy and work-organizations; functional/sectoral public arenas of differentiated service-provision (such as education, health-care, administration etc.) and media.
The conference provided a platform for sharing views, research findings and expertise on a wide variety of issues related to multilingualism. More than one hundred participants from 30 countries presented their research, within five thematic sessions: A) Multilingual practices in public spaces and linguistic landscape, B) Multilingualism in institutional settings, C) Multilingualism in economy, D) Historical perspectives of multilingualism, and E) General session.The sessions and the wide range of topics covered by contributions from experts in different fields testify to the unwaning interest in multilingualism research, as well as to the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to multilingualism.
The 2nd LINEE Conference: “Multilingualism in the public sphere” was organised by the Institute for Anthropological Research and the Croatian Anthropological Society, together with partners of the LINEE Network of Excellence: University of Bern, University of Szeged, University of Bolzano, University of Zagreb, Charles University in Prague, University of Vienna, University of Southampton, and University of Applied Languages in Munich.
