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Belgian Journal of English Language and Literatures

New Series 5 (2007) CALL FOR PAPERS

Thematic Issue : Varieties of voice

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The thematic issue of BELL 2007 will focus on the role played by voice in various fields of English studies. It will consider:

• the literary status of 'voice': the issue aims to address the impact of recent theoretical and/or technological developments on how the concept is handled in literary studies,

• the synchronic and diachronic ways in which the (subjective) voice of the language user manifests itself linguistically , i.e. in the constructional properties of syntagms used,

• those aspects of academic English that are relevant to helping learners find an appropriate academic voice in speaking and writing.

More specifically, submissions are invited on the following questions and issues in BELL's three areas of interest:

Literature:

• Is voice still part of 'what is at stake in modernity', as Barthes once argued?

• After deconstruction, does voice exist hors texte ? How does it relate to écriture ?

• What is the relation between voice and (point of) view? How does a textual voice acquire authority?

• To what extent is voice a gendered concept?

• Can a literary voice travel across cultures, periods and languages? Is it bound to cultural identity?

• Do different voices always imply Bakhtinian polyphony? Does the single, lyrical voice survive in poetry? How crucial is voice in drama and film?

Linguistics: (inter-)subjective motivations of voice such as

• choice of active vs. passive voice for optimal negotiation of information between speaker/hearer;

• evaluative and other subjective effects of middle constructions;

• subjective vs. more objective constructions (e.g. subjective vs. objective modality);

• speech and thought representation: representational vs. subjective uses, their impact on point of view;

• the diachronic shift from representational to interpersonal import of constructions;

• other aspects of interpersonal varieties of voice.

ELT:

• Author stance in academic writing: how do writers position themselves? What are the differences between disciplines? Do cultural differences, for instance with regard to hedging, play a role?

• Register varieties: how is formality defined in different academic genres and contexts? To what extent are writers free to find their own voice? And, from a diachronic perspective, can any developments be discerned?

• Citation strategies: how and why do writers incorporate other voices in their own writing?

• Presentation and seminar skills: how do presenters manage tone and register? What strategies do speakers use to voice comments and objections?

Please send papers to Keith Carlon, the managing editor of BELL, at carlon@ilv.ucl.ac.be, making sure you carefully follow the stylesheet to be found on the BELL website.

Length : 7,000 words maximum.

Deadline : 15 February 2007