Language ideologies and inequality with a perspective on the Arctic
The Arctic is a site of huge sociolinguistic changes.
Historically, different types of migration have led to complex sociolinguistic situations with language ideologies and policies, implicitly or explicitly, supporting certain linguistic practices while suppressing others.
This is evident in the way colonial powers have sought to install certain languages as legitimate, e.g. through processes of standardization, while others have been constructed as inferior and perhaps even uncivilized and unfit for modern life.
In many Arctic regions indigenous languages are no longer the unmarked everyday language, but this does not mean that they have lost their importance as markers of identity and belonging, and at the same time, these languages and dialects can gain new meaning and value.
The linguistic situation in the Arctic is furthermore impacted by modern processes of globalization, mobility, and language contact, leading to new complex sociolinguistic situations. Long distance labor migration to e.g. Sápmi or Greenland leads to the presence of languages such as Arabic and Tagalog, whereas English is ubiquitous as the global lingua franca and as a prominent everyday language in many aspects of modern life, also in the Arctic.
The contemporary sociolinguistic situation in the Arctic calls for an engagement with language ideologies and inequality, examining the diverse and unpredictable ways in which language form part of everyday inequalities.
Venue
- The conference will take place at Ilisimatusarfik - University of Greenland.
- Address is: Manutooq 1, 3905 Nuussuaq, Nuuk, Greenland.
- All presentations will take place in the auditorium on the 1st floor.
Public transport
The university is situated in the Northern part of town, and you can take a bus from the city centre to get there.
Bus 2 and 3 stop at Ilisimatusarfik - and the bus stop is called "Ilimmarfik".
Timetables and maps for bus services in Nuuk are available here.
Tickets can be bought in the bus (remember to bring cash, 20 DKK) or you can buy a travel card in Brugseni in the city centre (Aqqusinersuaq 2).
For presenters
For presentations you can use your own laptop, or the PC in the auditorium. If you wish to present from the local PC, please send your presentation beforehand to: [email protected] or bring the presentation on a USB stick.
Personal laptops can be connected through HDMI or USB-C. Please make sure that you bring an adapter, if your laptop does not have one of these ports.
Please check the equipment and test that your presentation works, preferably in the morning or during the lunch break.
Arrival in Nuuk airport
There is a bus connection (Bus 3) from the airport to the city centre, but it only leaves a few times a day, and never on Sundays. You can see the schedule here.
Taxis are parked right outside the terminal building. If there is no taxi, you can call one on:
- Taxagut: (+299) 321 321.
- Nuuk Taxi: (+299) 36 36 36.
More information about Greenland and Nuuk can be found here.
- 11 December 2023: Deadline for abstract submission (we have postponed the deadline for the abstract submission - you now have until 11 December to submit your abstract)
- 15 December 2023: Notification of paper acceptance
- 1 January 2024: Registration opens
- 1 April 2024: Registration closes
- 17 May 2024: Deadline for registration for attendance
- 23 - 24 May 2024: Conference
Registration for attendance
There is no conference fee, and the conference language will be English.
If you are interested in attending the presentations at the LIIA-conference, we ask that you send us an e-mail on [email protected] with a deadline on May 17th. This registration is free but it helps us estimate the amount of coffee and tea necessary for the breaks. Lunch on both days will be free for participants presenting at the conference. It is possible for other participants to buy lunch in the cafeteria.
In case of questions, please e-mail the organizers (Tikaajaat Kristensen, Christoph Hare Svenstrup and Marie Maegaard), also at [email protected].
We look forward to welcoming you in Nuuk in May 2024.
Tikaajaat Kristensen, Christoph Hare Svenstrup and Marie Maegaard
Oqaatsinik Ilisimatusarfik, Kulturimik, Oqaatsinik Oqaluttuarisaanermillu Ilisimatusarfik, Ilisimatusarfik
Centre for Language Research, Institute of Culture, Language and History, University of Greenland