This conference will explore the various connections and synergies between British and German colonialist discourses from the seventeenth century onwards. While it is known that similarities and differences exist in the British and German discourse traditions expressing colonialist ideology, this is an under-researched area in respect of historical texts. A discipline of historical discourse analysis is well-established for German political discourse (see, for example, Horan (2003), Wengeler (2005), Wodak et al. (2009), Rash (2012 and in press for 2016)), but is not well-represented for similar English-language discourse and analysis of the primary texts of colonialist discourse tends to rely upon non-linguistic methods (see, however, Musolff 2010). Papers are invited from scholars working in the fields of historical discourse using the methods of Critical Linguistics, Historical Discourse Analysis, Conceptual History (German “Begriffsgeschichte”) and Critical Metaphor Analysis. Source texts could include political, scientific and philosophical tracts, travel literature, autobiography and fiction. The study of images and of the modes of display of historical artefacts are also considered relevant constituents of discourse. The conference will mark the start of an innovative interdisciplinary project which will broaden the field of historical discourse analysis within the English-speaking world and allow comparison of British and German colonialist discourse. A major achievement of this future project would be to shed light upon the history of discursive strategies to be observed in modern discourses concerned with migration, race relations and post-colonial politics.

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Website: http://www.qmul.ac.uk/events/items/2017/international-conference.html

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Sponsor: Queen Mary University of London