Call for papers 2025

The Intercultural Confluences Research Centre of the Department of Humanities, Faculty of Economics, Socio-Human Sciences and Engineering, Miercurea Ciuc, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Romania, in cooperation with the Regional Committee in Cluj of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, organizes the International Conference  Közvetítés / Transmitere / Transmission in Miercurea Ciuc, Piața Libertății 1, on 21-22 March, 2025. The working languages of the conference are Hungarian, Romanian, and English. Submission deadline: 31 January 2025.

The theory and practice of transmission, the conveyance of meaning in various forms and media, interpretation, and the interaction between socio-cultural contexts are increasingly becoming central issues in the humanities. The aim of the conference is to explore, in an interdisciplinary approach, how transmission works in diverse scientific and artistic fields, and how messages, meanings, and interpretations are shaped in language, culture, society, media and the arts.

There is order in the world if we create it by thinking rationally. It is worth thinking in a way that we are constantly in dialogue with each other, we turn to the eternal Other. We attempt to convey what matters to us, while also listening to the Other’s perspective and reflecting on which of his/her values might benefit us. The mediator of Order, of the will of gods, is Hermes, who creates a connection between the two spheres. He is also the patron of literature, and of other representatives of exchanges, merchants and thieves. The hermeneutics of understanding also presupposes a dialogue: through the Gadamerian fusion of horizons, it is achieved by the creation of a shared space between the two separate entities. Albert-László Barabási highlights the importance of multidirectional communication, the role of networks in the act of transmission.

From a linguistic perspective, transmission offers a variety of research opportunities. In the course of transmission, several aspects of language use emerge. Translation is not only linguistic but also cultural transmission. Furthermore, pragmatic factors in communication, such as the speech situation, alignment with the Other, the choice of linguistic forms, the use of non-verbal cues and rhetorical techniques, all influence the process and effectiveness of transmission. In today’s digital age, the emergence of diverse technological tools poses new challenges to the process of mediation.

We welcome presentations in the following domains:

• Literary studies (literary theory, literary criticism, literature and other arts);
• Linguistics (applied linguistics, sociolinguistics, psycholinguistics, history of language, comparative linguistics);
• Film and visual studies;
• Cultural studies;
• Language teaching;
• Translation Studies.

Proposed topics of the conference:

• forms and possibilities of understanding;
• creation of meaning, representation of meaning, metaphorical transmission;
• ways of transmitting identity and alterity;
• cultural, ethnic, and linguistic mediation;
• cultural transfer, cultural mobility;
• transnational mediation;
• cultural transmission in the digital age;
• crossovers between genres;
• intermediality, transmediality;
• multimodality, adaptation;
• the transmission of myths in literature and the sister arts;
• bilingualism and multilingualism as forms of language transmission;
• translanguaging, code-switching;
• language connections, language variants, and their mediators;
• translation as mediation between languages and cultures;
• transmission and internationalization;
• transmission of knowledge.

Each lecture will be allotted 20 minutes for the presentation, followed by discussions. The conference will also include online panels. The keynote lectures and the online participants’ own panels will be transmitted online.

Plenary speakers

• Dr. habil. KATALIN DORÓ,Associate Professor, University of Szeged
• Dr. GEORGIANA LUNGU-BADEA, Professor, West University of Timișoara
• Dr. habil. JOLÁN ORBÁN, Professor, University of Pécs

Submission guidelines

• In order to participate, please fill in the ONLINE REGISTRATION FORM.
• You can apply individually or in panels of 3-4 presenters.
• Please submit an abstract of maximum 250 words, written Hungarian/Romanian and English. The abstract submission deadline is January 31, 2025. Notification of acceptance will be sent by February 10, 2025.
• We are expecting original and unpublished articles related to the topic of transmission. A selection of papers, based on favourable peer-review, will be published in the 2025 volume of Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, the international scientific journal of the Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, indexed in several scientific databases, as well as the conference volume edited by the Scientia Publishing House, a recognized academic publisher.

Registration fee

The registration fee covers the conference folder, coffee breaks and a reception.

REGULAR FEE: 350 RON / 70 EUR

MA AND PHD STUDENTS: 250 RON / 50 EUR

VIRTUAL PANEL: 250 RON / 50 EUR

EXTERNAL VISITORS: 90 RON / 18 EUR can register (name, institution - if applicable -, city, country) by sending an email to humanconferenceuni.sapientia.ro. 

Payment can be made at the conference website in the period between 11 February – 5 March 2025.

Further information: humanconferenceuni.sapientia.ro 

We look forward to meeting you in Miercurea Ciuc!