Wor(l)d crises (Jochen Schmidt)

Disruptions and Transformations Past and Present  

In so many respects, the disruptions and crises of our world are crises of our words. Though ideas and concepts have always undergone transformations and disruptions, there seems an abundance of word crises facing us today. Thus the goal of our panel is to combine these two spheres of crisis, world and word: to take exemplary crises and disruptions that are shaking our world today and relate these to crises and disruptions of concepts and words that people reach for when seeking support and orientation.

The panel thereby aims to link close readings and historical perspectives with theoretical perspectives. Papers are welcome that address questions such as:

·       How can we learn from the past, that is, how can we learn from close readings of terms and the transformations and disruptions they have gone through so that we are better equipped to meet current and future challenges?

·       Are there particular words/concepts that have gone through “fruitful” crises? Are there particular words that have grown pale and/or ambivalent, that have lost their previous meanings or that have become a trigger for conflicts and disruptions that societies had or are having to deal with?

·       Disruptions are ambivalent, as they disturb and destroy but also open up new ways to move forward. How can the arts and humanities make meaningful contributions to render our crises and disruptions productive, if at all possible? Are there historical examples for disruptive developments and crises of concepts/words that have proven helpful?

Queries and abstract proposals of no more than 350 words should be sent to Jochen Schmidt (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) at jochen.schmidt@uni-mainz.de no later than 31st January, 2026.