[Commlist] CFP: Discourse, Authority and Manipulation in Multimodal Perspective

CFP
Discourse, Authority and Manipulation in Multimodal Perspective (DAMMP 2023)


Conference organised by IDEA at The University of Lorraine (Nancy) – 
16^th -17^th  March 2023

Discourse emanates from various sources, some of which may be considered 
to be more authoritative than others. The knowledge available from these 
sources is “taught and learned”, “produced and used”, “sold and 
consumed” (Van Dijk 2011: 33). This raises the central epistemological 
question of the sources of knowledge, and for what purpose knowledge is 
disseminated. Sources which command authority set “knowledge standards” 
(Ibid.). These standards give rise to the theory of “epistemic 
vigilance”, in which “interaction among epistemically vigilant agents is 
likely to generate not only psychological but also social vigilance 
mechanisms” (Sperber et al. 2010: 361). To what extent do the 
information sources which constitute a “sociology of knowledge” reveal a 
correlation between authority in discourse and access to knowledge?


The link between the concept of manipulation and Critical Discourse 
Studies (CDS) is well-established (Van Dijk 2006). Manipulation in 
discourse takes place primarily “by text and talk” and “is a form of 
talk-in-interaction” linked to power and abuses of power (Ibid.: 360). 
As manipulation occurs within the mind, the cognitive processes that 
govern it lend themselves to a cognitive approach (Ibid.). Certain 
genres pose increasing challenges for CDS. Firstly, growing political 
scepticism, coupled with the public’s need for “a simple and 
understandable world in times of uncertainty and insecurity”, has 
resulted in people looking to the fictionalisation of politics in the 
media (Wodak 2011: 206). Secondly, technological advances in the 
twenty-first century have facilitated the development and proliferation 
of new forms of media. These forms of “ephemeral media” (Grainge 2011) 
have changed the rapidity with which information can be transmitted, 
while video-sharing platforms can result in traditional segments of 
discourse becoming fragmented.


Consequently, there has been a recent turn towards multimodality in CDS, 
with increasing amounts of information processed through the “visual 
channel” (Hart 2016: 336). A major contribution to the multimodal 
approach is Systemic Functional Multimodal Discourse Analysis (SF-MDA) 
(O’Halloran and Lim 2014; O’Halloran et al. 2019). Inspired by Systemic 
Functional Linguistics (Halliday and Matthiessen 2014), SF-MDA uses 
multimodal analytic methods involving “mathematical techniques and 
scientific visualizations” (O’Halloran and Lim 2014: 148). Multimodal 
approaches have “a view of meaning as being greater than the sum of its 
parts”, in which “meaning in any communicative act is not just a product 
of the individual modes that contribute to it but of the interplay 
between them” (Hart and Marmol Queralto 2021: 530-531).


The discursive picture can be enhanced by gesture analysis, which 
provides for a coordinated message with speech (Kendon 2004; Streeck 
2009). Specifically, the “impulse to gesture” occurs “at the interface 
between a cognitive-linguistic system and a face-to-face communication 
context” (Harrison 2018: 214). To this extent, gestures cannot be 
reduced to the mere externalisation of “pre-existing mental 
representations by means of body movements” (Kita and Alibali 2017: 
262). Gesture, like multimodality in general, may demonstrate semiotic 
convergence with language, but does such convergence exist in 
manipulative contexts?


Although manipulation may involve an epistemic shift away from fact, how 
should manipulation be analysed in genres of fiction which contain 
elements of fact or reality? The concept merits further exploration 
(Sorlin 2016, 2017), as fictional discourse “mirrors the ordinary 
functioning of language used to mediate social interactions in everyday 
life” (Sorlin 2017: 143).


The conference is open to papers which adopt a linguistic approach to 
manipulative discourse through multimodal analysis, focusing on English. 
Themes may include SF-MDA approaches, social semiotics or other 
multimodal approaches, focusing on official or unofficial sources, 
specialised areas of discourse (including, for example, political 
discourse, media discourse or scientific discourse), or the use of 
manipulation in genres of fiction. Other themes will be considered on merit.

Keynote speakers

Gaëlle Ferré, Professor of Linguistics, University of Poitiers

Simon Harrison, Assistant Professor of Applied Linguistics, City 
University of Hong Kong

Christopher Hart, Professor of Linguistics, Lancaster University

Call for papers


We invite participants to submit an abstract (in English or French) not 
exceeding 500 words, plus 5 or 6 keywords. Papers may be given in 
English or French and will be allocated 20 minutes, with follow-up 
questions during the session. Abstract submissions must include two 
separate Word formats: one anonymised, the other containing the name(s), 
affiliation(s) and email address(es) of the author(s) in addition to the 
title of the paper. All abstracts will be sent for anonymous peer review 
by the Scientific Committee. The Organiser and Scientific Committee 
reserve the right to request modifications to the abstract as a 
condition of acceptance. Parallel sessions may be used where 
appropriate. Some papers will be published.

The extended deadline for submissions is Monday 3rd October 2022. 
Decisions will be communicated by e-mail by Monday 31^st  October 2022. 
Please send all submissions with the subject “DAMMP 2023” to Robert Butler:


*Mail: (robert /dot/ butler /at/ univ /hyphen/ lorraine /dot/ fr) 
<mailto:(robert /dot/ butler /at/ univ /hyphen/ lorraine /dot/ fr)>*


Scientific Committee

Robert Butler, Alan Cienki, Gilles Col, Belinda Crawford, Nuria 
Edo-Marzá, Denis Jamet, Juan Carlos Palmer-Silveira, Linda Pillière, 
Miguel Ruiz-Garrido, Sandrine Sorlin, Sabine Tan, Ronghua Wang, Janina 
Wildfeuer, Suwei Wu

Registration

While it is anticipated that participants will be able to attend the 
conference in person, a hybrid format will also enable participants to 
follow the conference online. The University of Lorraine asks for a 
registration fee than not less than 50 euros, whatever the format of the 
conference. A website specifically for the conference will be available 
shortly.

For full details, please go to: 
https://idea.univ-lorraine.fr/sites/default/files/2022-03/DAMMP%202023%20-%20full%20CFP%20on%20IDEA_2.pdf


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