The British Library and the University of Antwerp host a three day conference concerning ‘Languages and the First World War’.
“The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War coincides with the fading of direct memory of the period”.
“Few can remember the linguistic experience of wartime in the speech of those directly or indirectly involved, but the linguistic traces of combat and civilian life, in and out of war zones, remain”.
The conference will explore the development of language, with one example term being ‘no man’s land’, which came into widespread use during the First World War.
‘Truly international’
“The use of the term, many centuries earlier referring to an isolated patch of land outside the City of London, is indicative of a pattern of language-change produced by the war – by 1920 ‘Niemandsland’ was a widely used term in German”.
The British Library states that sociolinguistic research into the period helped to give them the idea for a conference focusing on language and the First World War.
The conference will not be English-language exclusive as “the conference aims to be truly international and interdisciplinary”.
Call for papers
A call for papers has also been issued, with the deadline for abstracts on the 31st December 2013.
Papers may be submitted in languages other than English, providing an English language synopsis is made available.
The conference will take place on the 18th-20th June 2014, with the British Library and the University of Antwerp hosting one day each, with the 19th of June being used for travel between Belgium and Britain.
To find out more about the conference, visit the British Library website here.