GfN Annual Meeting "Names in Context – Sociopragmatic Aspects of Proper Name Usage"

 ICOS  

Conference: Names in Context – Sociopragmatic Aspects of Proper Name Usage

Annual Meeting of the Society for Name Studies (GfN) 

Date: April 2-4, 2025 

Location: Archive Center, Uppsala, Sweden 

Organizers: Michael Prinz and Daniel Solling

Overview:

This conference aims to explore the use of proper names from a socio-onomastic and sociopragmatic perspective. Although the social dimension of name usage has been recognized for a long time, traditional studies focused more on the origin, linguistic value, and lexical status of proper names. It was only from the 1970s onwards that social, pragmatic, and interactional contexts of name usage were more intensively studied, leading to the emergence of socio-onomastics, a field at the intersection of sociolinguistics and onomastics.

Objectives:

The conference seeks to examine names in various contexts, including both traditional pragmatic contexts (linguistic, situational, and knowledge-based) and dynamic sociolinguistic contexts. The focus is on the usage of names in different pragmatic or sociolinguistic settings, encompassing both contemporary and historical perspectives across all classes of names.

Key Themes:

1. Epistemic Foundations of Name Usage:

   • Investigating onymic competencies, attitudes, and the social knowledge associated with name usage.

2. Name Variation and Multiple Naming:

   • Exploring variations in names across different dimensions (geographical, social, gender, etc.) and the phenomena of multiple naming practices.

3. Names and Identity:

   • Examining the role of names in the construction of personal, social, and cultural identities, including issues related to name changes and place identity.

4. Names and Multilingualism:

   • Analyzing name usage in multilingual contexts, including code-switching, linguistic landscapes, and the impact of societal multilingualism.

5. Names in Interaction:

   • Studying the role of names in interactional contexts, focusing on how names function in conversational and sequential interactions.

Submission Details:

• Languages: German and English
• Abstract Submission: Up to 300 words (excluding references)
• Deadline: October 15, 2024
• Email: Uppsala2025@gmx.net

The selection of contributions will be made promptly after the submission deadline. The organizers look forward to diverse and engaging presentations at the conference.