[Commlist] cfp: Language and Communicative Aspects of Disinformation

Conference

Dostojevskeho rad 2
81109 Bratislava, Slovakia

Date: 20/10/2026 - 21/10/2026
Registration deadline: 30/09/2026
Call for papers ending on: 15/02/2026

Disinformation is commonly discussed through a set of dominant narratives,
such as the claim that we live in a post-factual era, that we are witnessing
an unprecedented boom of disinformation and conspiracy theories, that
disinformation is the main driver of societal polarization, or that language
itself is losing its meanings. Regardless of the empirical validity of these
narratives, disinformation and conspiracy theories have become a central
topic across many scientific disciplines.

The project Language and Communicative Aspects of Disinformation
[1] approaches disinformation not primarily as a cause of social problems,
but as a symptom of deeper and more complex transformations in social
relations and public communication. From this perspective, disinformationis
understood as a specific form of strategic communicative action. It involves
not only the production of messages and narratives, but also the conditions
under which they are interpreted and misinterpreted by audiences.

As participants in public discourse, we observe that the communicative
practices of certain media, political actors, and influencers are not
accidental. Their effectiveness lies in the deliberate creation of
communicative conditions that facilitate distorted interpretation and
misunderstanding. Analyzing the linguistic and communicative principles
underlying such practices is therefore essential for understanding the
success of disinformation in public discourse.

An equally important dimension of the problem concerns ways of counteracting
the effects of disinformation. This includes strategic communication at the
level of state–citizen relations, as well as communicative practices in
interindividual and community contexts.

The aim of the conference is to bring together scholars from diverse
disciplines to discuss disinformation as a communicative phenomenon: how it
is implemented in public discourse, what forms of knowledge, belief, or
irrationality it reflects, how it contributes to the persistence of social
conflicts between different social groups, and how its impact can be
mitigated through more effective communication strategies.

Thematic focus of contributions


	Theoretical and methodological aspects of disinformation research (from the
perspective of various scientific disciplines – philosophy, logic, law,
history, political science, sociology, ethnology, social psychology,
linguistics, semiotics, etc.)
	Linguistic analysis of disinformation messages (morphosyntactic, lexical,
stylistic, textual aspects, etc.)
	Communicative-pragmatic aspects of disinformation (communicative acts,
principles and rules of communication, relational aspects of communication,
interpretive competence, etc.)
	Corpus research of disinformation texts
	Critical analysis of disinformation discourses
	Research focused on unfounded beliefs, conspiracy theories, information
operations from a historical and contemporary perspective
	Research focused on strategic communication
Conference languages: English, Slovak/Czech (however, we recommend English
language for shared materials – presentations etc.)

A selection of conference papers will be published in a special issue of the
Jazykovedný časopis/Linguistic Journal (SCOPUS).

For more information, please visit the conference
website: https://www.juls.savba.sk/disinfo.html
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