Though almost every society in the world is multilingual, film has, throughout its history, been largely monolingual, and studies on multilingualism in film are still rare to come by. However, worldwide political, social and cultural developments in recent decades have brought about a shift of interest towards, and reappraisal of, multilingualism in film. The establishment and evolution of the European Union and the major migratory movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, among other developments that are often interpreted as processes and effects of globalisation, have fuelled this renewed interest in topical contemporary issues such as intercultural communication, migration, multiculturalism and European heritage. It remains to be seen whether the ongoing social and cultural changes will also lead to changes in future selection and use of languages in cinema.

This conference seeks to contribute to the scholarly understanding of multilingual practices in European and American cinema from both a contemporary and historical point of view. It focusses on theoretical and methodological frameworks of analysis of the significance and function of multilingualism in film, with particular attention paid to issues such as cross-cultural communication, individual and societal multilingualism, language politics and language ideologies. Furthermore, the conference shall also address broader topics concerning the relationship between language and narration, language and visual semantics, and language and authenticity.

Possible subjects for papers may, therefore, relate to (but are not restricted to) the following research areas:
- theoretical frameworks and methodological models for the analysis of multilingualism in film
- language attitudes and ideologies in film including their social, psychological, cultural, economic and political dimensions
- language and identity construction
- practices of othering through the use of language
- multilingual communication practices including cross-cultural communication, intercultural translation and frame-/code-switching
- language and fictional worlds
- role and development of multilingualism in film history

Language of the conference: English
*
The following plenary speakers have confirmed their participation:*
Reine Meylaerts (KU Leuven, Belgium)
Patrick Zabalbeascoa Terran (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain)
Nolwen Mingant (Université de Nantes, France)

Abstracts of no more than 500 words should be submitted via e-mail to info.msb@ur.de by July 15, 2017. They will be evaluated by the organising committee. Notifications of acceptance will be announced by July 30, 2017. The duration of individual papers is restricted to 45 minutes which includes 30 minutes of presentation time and 15 minutes of subsequent discussion. It is planned that one of the renowned publishing houses on the subject will publish the contributions in a specialised book series.

The regular registration fee is 35 €.

In case of any enquiries, please contact the organisers: info.msb@ur.de

The conference is organised by the Chair for General and Comparative Linguistics and the Chair for Romance Literatures and Cultures (both University of Regensburg) and the Junior Professorship of intercultural competence with focus on digital practices and transnational relations (Chemnitz University of Technology).

Location: Haus der Begegnung, Hinter der Grieb 8

Organising committee members:
Prof. Dr. Johannes Helmbrecht
Prof. Dr. Ralf Junkerjürgen
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Gala Rebane