主题：语言与图像第九届国际会议

Words & Images

20 August Montreal， Canada

The (Un)Imaginable — Aposiopesis in Words and Images

Aposiopesis is a rhetorical device in which a fragment of discourse is deliberately left unfinished in order to convey an impression of unwillingness or inability to continue, as well as in order to stimulate the receiver of the discourse to complete it according to her imagination. The session would like to promote investigation and discussion on this fundamental mechanism of the human imaginary: imagination is not triggered only by that which representations show, but also by that which representations hide. Possible topics of contributions include:
 
1)     Aposiopesis in the history of both art and rhetoric; papers that inquire about the transposition of this rhetorical device from verbal into visual representations and vice versa will be particularly appreciated;
2)     The semiotic construction of aposiopesis: how can a fragment of either verbal or visual discourse both represent something as unimaginable and promote its imagination?
3)     Aposiopesis in cultural history: how do cultures conceive of the limits of imagination? According to what aesthetical or ethical rationales? Which meta-discourses do they produce about these limits?
4)     Aposiopesis in contemporary societies: what is the destiny of aposiopesis in cultures that seem to set no aesthetical and ethical limits to the power of representation? How does aposiopesis work in multicultural contexts?

Please send your submission (300 words maximum) accompanied by a short bio-bibliographical notice (100 words) in the form of a Word document, 12pt Times New Roman (please identify yourself by family name, first name, university and departmental affiliation, and include both session title and the title of your paper) before October 1st 2010 to the session organizer(s) with a copy to iawis2011@gmail.com