IX. International Congress of IGEL, Edmonton / Alberta , August 3-7 2004
Call for papers for panel:
Emotions and literature/media/aesthetics
Over the past two decades, emotions have become an active and rapidly growing field of research and theorizing in disciplines as different as cognitive, social and developmental psychology, anthropology, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and many others. One of the central themes that emerged from the joint efforts of emotion research is that emotions are not just private inner experiences, but inherently social and communicative phenomena.
This panel will explore the reverse conclusion: If emotions are inherently social and communicative, is it also true that communication - specifically literary communication and media communication - is inherently emotional? To date, communication has mainly been conceptualized as a process of exchange / mutual influence / coorientation / normative control / etc. of cognitive information processing. What, if we think of communication as a process of exchange / mutual influence / coorientation / normative control of emotions? Of cause, such an emotional view is by no means mutually exclusive with a cognitive one. In this panel, however, the focus will be on emotions and their specific contribution to the communication process.
Does such an emotional look on communication yield new insights into the process of literary production and reception? Or the production and reception of media in general? Does it lead to new concepts in literary and media aesthetics?
Papers presented at the panel should introduce empirical findings or theoretical approaches relevant to these and related question in a 20 minute presentation.
Please send proposals by February 12th 2004 to
Martin-Luther-Universität Halle
Institut für Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften
Rudolf-Breitscheit-Str. 10
06110 HalleEmail: bartsch@medienkomm.uni-halle.de or huebner@medienkomm.uni-halle.de