SCLS runs several strands of open seminars; all welcome.
Research on English Language Teaching
- Full details on our research seminars page.
Language and Culture
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Tuesday 26 March 2013, 5.30pm [NEW DATE after postponement due to snow]
in the Language Learning Centre, Arts A
Dr Jules Winchester (University of Sussex)
'You're 'avin a giraffe!': Conversational Humour in Intercultural Interactions
Although humour exists in every culture, it can be very difficult to express and to understand humour in different contexts, especially in intercultural interactions where there may be different 'norms of appropriateness' in the expression of humour.This talk sets out some of the general theories and functions of humour by exploring examples of conversational humour in various comedy clips and in data from an empirical study. A number of variables affecting the understanding and use of humour in conversation are discussed, with a particular focus on the role of culture in the communication of humour in intercultural interactions.
The talk concludes that expressions of humour which perform a 'bonding' function in conversation are prevalent in intercultural interactions. Expressions of humour which perform a riskier 'differentiating' function appear to be less common, although this is a key way of constructing national identity for conversational participants in intercultural encounters. In these riskier interactions, knowledge of local and cultural 'norms of appropriateness' is often essential for the successful communication of humour, but as these norms can only become clear from the observation of and participation in intercultural interactions, expressions of humour should not be avoided in such encounters.
Jules Winchester is a long-standing lover of comedy and analyst of language use. She taught English as a Foreign Language at home and abroad for a number of years which sparked her interest in the role of culture and identity in language use in intercultural interactions, leading to a PhD in Linguistics. She has been a Tutorial Fellow in English Language Teaching at the Sussex Centre for Language Studies at Sussex University since 2009. - CANCELLED Thursday 18 April, 5.30pm
in the Language Learning Centre, Arts A
Rising Stars of Russian Writing
The Debut Prize for New Russian Literature is an independent literary award for authors under 35 years of age, founded in 2000 and receiving over 50,000 submissions annually from all corners of Russia for the million rouble prize fund. The winners form a new generation of rising literary stars who are transforming the Russian literary landscape.
Three Debut winners will be reading for us in Russian, with English translations from the women's collection published by Glas last year, Still Waters Run Deep. Universum by Irina Bogatyreva is about a young woman's attempt to penetrate the inner world of the man she looks up to through his email correspondence. Olga Rimsha's Still Water is a psychological-detective story of an accidental murder and its consequences including an unexpected love affair. I Only Wanted to Live by Victoria Chikarneeva chronicles a young woman's desperate fight with a terminal illness.
All welcome - refreshments will be available.
In association with the Unviersity of Sussex Russian Society
- Past speakers include:
- Dr Simon Coffey (King's College London): Narrative Positioning and Agency in Intercultural Encounters
- Irina Mashinski (Cardinal Points journal) and Sasha Dugdale (Modern Poetry in Translation journal): Poetry reading by bilingual poets and translators, in association with the University of Sussex Russian Society
- Alexandra Loske (Art History, University of Sussex): Languages of Colour
The Language Learning Centre also hosts occasional University of Sussex Russian Society seminars.