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*The deadline is due on April 1st. *

*Epidemic Remedies In Medical Writing* *18th - 19th June 2024*

*University of Ferrara - Ferrara - Italy*

This conference aims to discuss the representation of epidemic remedies in medical writing in England and in France between 1500 and 1920. Prospective presenters are invited to address epidemic remedies across five centuries, bearing three main methodological observations in mind. Firstly, the pivotal role of the plague and the Spanish influenza as opening and closing points to the selected timeframe. Secondly, the working definition of “remedy” as a cure “for a disease, disorder, injury, etc.; a medicine or treatment that promotes healing or alleviates symptoms.” (OED, remedy 2). This comprehensive definition intends to allow for historical specification and diachronic terminological variation, which the prospective presenters are invited to explore and specify. Thirdly, the definition of representation as “the process by which members of a culture use language (broadly defined as any system which deploys signs, any signifying system) to produce meaning” (Hall 1997: 61), with particular emphasis on language use at lexical and discourse level, as well as the interaction between semiotic systems (e.g. word and image).

The present aim is not only to offer a diachronic perspective on the linguistic and visual representation of remedies, but also to focus on remedies prescribed during epidemics, with a view to better understanding the history of medical and health communication. Potential research questions straddle multiple standpoints - historical linguistics, the analysis of discourse, the analysis of lexis, as well as images - and multiple text types (medical treatises, medical dictionaries, periodical publications, medical advertisements through time). They include but are not limited to:

- The lexical description of remedies in medical writing - The metaphorical description of remedies in medical writing - The rhetorical construction of ethos in medical writing dealing with epidemic remedies - The visual representation of remedies in medical writing - The visual representation of remedies in newspapers/magazines - The linguistic-visual construal of remedies in texts containing multiple semiotic systems (i.e. advertisements) - the insurgence of misinformation and disinformation in/about health communication (these categories may be epistemologically relevant in papers dealing with the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries)

We invite proposals from a wide range of methodological perspectives. To name but a few: corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis, critical discourse analysis, multimodal discourse analysis, historical lexicography and terminology, new historicism, cultural theory, epistemology, philosophy of science, gender medicine, and gender theory. Please submit a *one-page abstract *(*ca. 200 – 300 words excluding references*). Presentations (*in English or in French*) will consist of a 20-minute talk followed by 10 minutes for questions and discussion. Please note, there is no fee for registration.

All research papers should be delivered in person. All abstracts should be submitted to *remediesconference2023@unife.it remediesconference2023@unife.it*. All abstracts should be *anonymised *and include *a title * and up to *five keywords*.

Conference Website https://www.unife.it/it/cla/progetti/epidemic-remedies-in-medical-writing-1500-1920-les-remedes-contre-les-epidemies-dans-les-ecritures-medicales-1500-1920