Dear list members,
please find below a CFP for Plotting Poetry 7 conference that will take
place in Einsiedeln, Switzerland.
Details also available at
https://www.plottingpoetry.org/conference/2024einsiedeln/cfp
Best,
Petr
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*PLOTTING POETRY 7: Metres of Humour.*
26-27-28 June, 2024
Einsiedeln, Switzerland
*Call for Papers*
*Plotting Poetry* is a conference series focussed on computational,
statistical and other quantitative approaches for the study of poetic
texts, and of poeticity more broadly.
This quantitative focus, this insistence on the formalization and
operationalisation of texts, from simple pen and paper counting and
compiling to complex algorithms, provides us with a number of paths to
analyze, describe, interpret, attribute, classify, track and generally
access the texts. The Plotting Poetry conferences bring together a friendly
community of researchers, and articles rooted in the conference papers have
given rise to several peer-reviewed collective volumes.
The name of the group stems from an effort to translate a (perfectly
serious) pun by the French modernist poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who in
1917 wrote that poets should “[machiner] poetry as has been done for the
world”, where the verb *machiner* is visibly used for *mechanize*, although
it really means *to plot*, as one would *plot* a coup. In this group, we
are plotting against our own limitations by trying to plot literature on
graphs, devising mechanized approaches to dissect the mechanics of poetry.
This year’s conference welcomes a focus on the many forms of humour in
verse. Although verse and humour might appear to sit at opposite ends of a
literary hierarchy of taste and sophistication, the two have appeared
together for as long as verse has been written, sung, played, shared or
shouted. Versified humour can be found in popular productions and in
highbrow literature, with poets writing lighter pieces alongside their
other productions, as well as including humorous passages within their
serious works.
Both materials - humour and verse - rely on a departure from *bona
fide* communication,
seeking to harness the shortcomings of language, to create layered meanings
and to trigger an additional effort from the recipient trying to make sense
of incongruous or opaque utterances. Whilst ambiguity would be an enemy of
efficient communication, it is a staple of both humour and poetry.
Versification usually provides us with a reassuring sameness, and versified
humour sometimes relies on this learned expectation of sameness, taking
advantage of our prior knowledge in order to mislead us. This happens when
an unexpected approximate rhyme brings to mind the obscene word that would
provide a similar yet perfect rhyme. Or when the choice of a specific
metre, with its baggage of associated uses and meanings, helps create
parody or satire. Or even, very simply, when the stanzaic structure of a
poem builds then breaks the monotony of lines, signaling the humorous
intent of its punchline. In French, the punchline of a joke and the
striking end of a poem are both named *la chute*: the fall.
Verse has an ability to leave an impression on our minds and memories, and
as such can readily serve persuasion efforts, from slogans or commercials
to epic poems and state propaganda. Humour is often a deeply political
reality. Despite its affinity with taboo subjects and irreverence, one of
humour’s regular uses is to spread and maintain stereotypes, assert
domination, and strengthen the feelings of belonging and allegiance through
a so-called universality. This humour of the dominant tends to suppress
minority voices and singular perspectives, requiring the dominated to laugh
along in an effort to fit with the in-group. And yet, it can also be used
as a weapon for attacking the order in place, voicing singularities, and
questioning the established norms.
Examining the powers of those two phenomena, one can wonder: What happens
when a versified text is humorous, and what when a humorous text is in
verse? Can shared regularities be found in the many verse forms of humorous
texts? Can we measure those, and how? Should, or can, the funniness of it
be taken into account, or even just its humorous intent, despite the high
degree of cultural, linguistic and historical specificity?
Papers addressing humour alongside verse or other highly-controlled and
rhythmical forms are all welcome, whether written, read, sung or smuggled,
from the lowest to the highest registers, from any time period and any
language area.
This focus on humour in verse is not an exclusive one, and we encourage the
submission of papers that use quantitative tools and methods in
investigating poetry or poeticity, regardless of their link to humorous
poetry. Besides, as has been traditional at Plotting Poetry conferences,
works on other genres may also be included, provided that a mechanization
or quantification apparatus is being used to explore their poeticity.
Some of the topics to consider include but are not limited to:
- Verse forms and meters used and misused for lighter pieces
- Stanzaic structures and their use in humour
- Puns and their relationship to versification
- Versification as a target of humour
- Slogans and propaganda
- Standup as poetry
- Musical forms of humour (song, rap…)
- …
For this 7th Plotting Poetry conference, we will be convening in the Swiss
village of Einsiedeln, in the canton of Schwyz. In order to secure a better
deal and to make this event affordable for everyone, we will be handling
and largely funding the conference hotel ourselves, and the participants
will be charged a reasonable fee.
Please, submit your abstracts (max. 1600 characters including spaces) via this
form https://forms.gle/SoU9RWCmMLEvgchF8 until March 1, 2024.
Should you have *any* further questions, you can get in touch at:
plottingpoetryhumour@gmail.com
*Timeline:*
Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1 March, 2024
Notification of acceptance: 15 March, 2024
Confirmation of participation: 1 May, 2024
*Organizers & programme committee:*
Anne-Sophie Bories, Nils Couturier, Petr Plecháč, Pablo Ruiz Fabo
*Webpage:* https://www.plottingpoetry.org/conference/2024einsiedeln/cfp
http://www.ucl.cas.cz/
*Petr Plecháč, Ph.D. & Ph.D.*
*oddělení teorievedoucí versologického týmutheory departmenthead of the
versification research group*
*Ústav pro českou literaturu AV ČR, v.v.i.*
Institute of Czech Literature of the CAS
Na Florenci 1420/3, 110 00 Praha 1, Czech Republic
T +420 222 828 148, +420 222 828 115
E plechac@ucl.cas.cz