On the 5th of November 2020 Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities hosted the Fifth Edition of the International Conference: the Annual Siedlce Forum for Contemporary Issues in Language and Literature. Between clarity and fuzziness: Investigating the concept of meaning in linguistic, literary and philosophical contexts. This year’s event was organized in cooperation with the University of the Balearic Islands (Universitat de les Illes Balears) and was devoted to the problem of meaning and the associated questions of clarity as well as the haziness of messages transmitted via texts created in the fields of literary and cultural studies, linguistics and philosophy.
After the conference was formally opened by professor Edward Colerick (UPH) and professor Ruben Jarazo (UIB), professor Anna Malicka-Kleparska from the Catholic University of Lublin delivered the plenary lecture entitled: “Kimian states vs. Davidsonian states”. The lecture was followed by a presentation entitled “My Tongue Swore to, but my Heart Did Not: Must I Mean What I Say?” prepared by professor David Perez Chico from the University of Zaragoza.
During the panel sessions, speakers discussed problematic issues concerning the clarity/fuzziness of messages conveyed both in the sphere of current political events, TV commercials, as well as in reference to the phenomenon of manipulation. A particularly intriguing issue discussed was that of humour in public language. Some presentations focused on questions covering the field of linguistics – both from the theoretical, as well as the empirical perspective. Traditionally, one of the panel sessions was devoted to discussing the main theme of the conference from a philosophical point of view. The problem addressed during this year’s conference was complemented with literary studies presentations which, among others, touched on the rich relationship between philosophy and literature.
The conference provided scholars with a possibility to deliver and listen to a variety of lectures within an interdisciplinary approach, which allowed the two leading conference areas—literature and linguistics— to be combined with such diverse and fascinating fields as history, philosophy and media studies. It additionally proved to be a perfect opportunity to exchange ideas and research results – both on the national, as well as international level. The participants of the conference represented important Polish academic centres (University of Silesia in Katowice, University of Zielona Góra, University of Białystok, Jagiellonian University, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Kazimierz Wielki University in Bydgoszcz) as well as foreign academic centres: University of the Balearic Islands, University of La Laguna, University of Zaragoza, Sapienza University of Rome, and the University of Oslo.
We would very much like to thank all of our speakers for the lectures they delivered and for sharing the results of their fascinating research.
