The International Conference Discourses in Interaction explores the connections between memory studies, literary studies, interactional linguistics, pragmatics, media analysis and cultural studies to provide a comprehensive perspective on the complexities of human communication. Thematically, it builds upon two previous academic venues held at the University of Madeira, Discourses in Interaction: Literary & Film-induced Tourism and Discourses in Interaction II: Experiences, Memories and Identities, while sharing their genre-crossing and interdiscursive approaches.

Drawing on the critical perspective by Baynham and Lee, this conference proposes to “consider translanguaging and translation in tandem – across languages, language varieties, registers, and discourses, and in a diverse range of contexts” (2019:74). This range of contexts is meant to address a more nuanced understanding of the concepts of memory and identity which carry strategic, political and ethical implications on the way we represent the relationship between the past and the present in a contemporary globalised society.

Inspired by Andreas Huyssen’s Present Pasts (2003), we seek submissions which examine the extent to which memories travel and transform across borders, and media, impacting identity and belonging, along with the role of mediation in shaping diasporic narratives, knowledge and socio-political aspects of remembering and forgetting. Contributions may also delve into the ethical implications of empowerment and silencing within socio-historical discourses, collective memory and archives. We encourage discussions on the impact of propaganda and (dis)information strategies, as well as on the promotion of historical accuracy and initiatives which prioritize education and awareness in the public sphere. Furthermore, we welcome reflections on fictional and non-fictional representations of (collective) remembrance and forgetting, and their relationship with historical discourse on memory and identity.

We invite panel, roundtable, paper or art-based proposals and workshops dealing with, but not restricted to, the following topics:

1. Transcultural Mobility and (Dis)Location: Memory, Authenticity, and Mediation
2. Encoding / Decoding Emotion and Multimodal Narratives of the Self
3. (Re)addressing Knowledge, Ethics, and Aesthetics Paradigms
4. From Cognitivism to Ecologism in Language Studies
5. Rhetoric and Gender Studies
6. Mis/Disinformation and Publishing in the Digital Age
7. Deconstructing Propaganda: Strategies for Media Literacy
8. Holocaust and Genocide Denial and Distortion
9. Activism and Social Justice Movements
10. Agency, Voice, and (Dis)Empowering Discourses
11. Language and Artificial Intelligence
12. Interpreting, Translation, and Terminology
13. (Digital) Storytelling as Translanguaging
14. Dealing with the Past: Historical Discourses and Literary Representations