International Conference
February 5-6, 2026
Haus der Universität
Prof. Dr. Birgit Neumann

This conference is dedicated to exploring the poetics and politics of literary texts that employ multi- and translingual strategies to challenge monolingual norms. Post-monolingual literatures activate literary multi- and translingualism to express the experiences of subjects who live in more than one language, who resist institutionalized monolingual paradigms, and who create new links between languages to foster affective forms of community-building beyond the nation. The conference asks how this corpus of texts, by embracing linguistic exchange, also models new concepts of language. Post-monolingual literatures dismantle notions of language as a singular, countable, and separable entity, configuring it instead as a fluid, relational, embodied, and pluralized practice. Together, these works make a significant contribution to the search for more hospitable collectivities and to the assertion of pluralized civic and literary forms of participation. While focusing on the aesthetics of languaging in literatures across Europe, the conference also addresses the role of the book market in regulating language.

To register, send an email to Birgit.Neumann(at)hhu.de.