60^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture

In the past, the difficulty of engaging with various cultures and understanding, interpreting, and conveying messages between them has often been highlighted when translating literary texts, especially poetry. The demanding nature of translation is most clearly apparent in these texts because they are distinctly characterized by poetic language featuring semantic shifts, connotations, polysemy, grammatical irregularities, deviations from general language use, complex structures that are difficult to understand, shifted ethical and cognitive norms, and so on. In poetic language, these features are so prominent that even native speakers perceive them as special. In contrast, non-literary texts, ranging from scholarly to journalistic or personal texts, seem to have significantly fewer metaphors and special linguistic patterns, or they can be readily understood because they are an established expression of the culture and society that we became socialized in and where our perception of the world was shaped. Thus, it is only with the processes of globalization and fluctuation, which have significantly contributed to raising awareness about the need for interculturality, that we have realized how strongly they influence our views of the world and the interpretation of what is taking place inside and around us.

One of the central concepts when thinking about what it means to understand a language, literature, and culture, and why in different social or cultural environments we cannot always interpret what has been said or express our thoughts merely by knowing words and sentence patterns, is metaphor, which is also the focal point of scholarly reflection of the 60^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature, and Culture. Namely, metaphor is a concept that combines three building blocks of a message: an expression, or the specific use of language; the figurative and connotative meanings attributed to that expression; and the contextual framework in which the expression is used to verbalize and make sense of the chosen meaning.

Over the course of the seminar, we will observe metaphor from all its angles. From the expressive viewpoint, we will examine the message of concrete means of expression within linguistic, artistic, and other codes. From the viewpoint of language, we will understand these expressions not only as special linguistic forms that materialize in literary and rhetorical texts, but as any form of expression that deliberately deviates from unmarked, common usage because, through this, speakers or writers seek to emphasize something, to express it more clearly, or embellish it. We will also be interested in what shapes the language of a specific community or individual, and how it is conceived by its speakers and those of us who only witness it.

In terms of semantics or content at the microlevel, individual metaphors, metonymy, or irony carry specific meanings, allowing us to link our thoughts, conceptions, and feelings to our own experience; and the more our experiences and living environments differ, the more difficult it is to understand metaphors. In turn, at the macrolevel metaphors are conceived as more general notions about people, feelings, and events that materialize throughout the entire text or series of texts, works of art, and customs that, on the one hand, reflect the society in which metaphors are created and, on the other, are used to shape this society.

Finally, it is impossible to think about metaphor without taking into account its context. By selecting the context, speakers determine which participants and processes they will attribute greater importance to and how they will shape or understand the metaphorical extensions or value connotations. Speakers do something similar, only that they receive the text in their own framework. The guiding principle in discussing the role of metaphors in understanding messages in various contexts within one’s own language, literature, and culture, as well as encountering others, will be the very reflection on how speakers use metaphors in the context of various social situations and practices.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jerca Vogel,
President of the 60^th SSJLK

The seminar is organised by the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language at the Department of Slovene Studies, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, Trubarjeva cesta 3, SI-1000 Ljubljana. The morning programme takes place entirely at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Ljubljana, Aškerčeva 2, Ljubljana, while the afternoon and evening programme is organised at different locations in Ljubljana.

Seminar president: Dr. Jerca Vogel
Head of the language teachers: Dr. Damjan Huber
Seminar organisers: Dr. Damjan Huber
Programme committee: Dr. Lidija Arizankovska, Dr. Zvonko Kovač, Dr. Mojca Nidorfer, Dr. Urška Perenič, Dr. Jerca Vogel
Technical editor of seminar publications: Mag. Mateja Lutar
Student assistance: Neža Cerinšek, Anika Logar, Zala Mele, Monika Podlogar, Domen Rob

The lecturers and language teachers leading the seminar are proven experts from the University of Ljubljana Faculty of Arts and outside collaborators.

Lecturers: Dr. Aleksander Bjelčevič, Dr. Martin Germ, Dr. Vesna Mikolič, Dr. Marko Stabej, Dr. Hotimir Tivadar, Dr. Urša Valič, Dr. Alojzija Zupan Sosič, Dr. Luka Zibelnik
Language teachers: Vesna Bukovec, Katarina Dovč, Mojca Jesenovec, Maja Kračun, Dr. Klemen Lah, Mag. Meta Lokar, Primož Lubej, Sanja Pirc, Maja Rančigaj Beneš, Mag. Mateja Rozman, Dr. Jasmina Šuler Galos, Mag. Bojana Todorović, Martin Vrtačnik, Dr. Luka Zibelnik

The seminar participants are foreign Slovene Studies and Slavic Studies specialists, writers, translators, experts in comparative linguistics and literature, and others who include Slovene in any other way in their life and work: teachers, researchers and students of Slovene and Slavic Studies at universities and research institutes abroad and in ethnic Slovene areas, etc. At the seminar they deepen and enrich their knowledge, learn about the latest findings and have genuine contact with the Slovene language, literature and culture.

Accommodation is available at the Ivan Cankar Hostel, Poljanska Cesta 26, Building A. The hostel is located in pleasant surroundings below Ljubljana Castle, a fifteen-minute walk from the city center. It is a thirty-minute walk from the hostel to the Faculty of Arts through the old part of the town. Accommodation is in triple, double, or single rooms, the bathrooms are shared (not ensuite), and a shared kitchen with an induction stovetop is available on the ground floor (we recommend bringing your own cookware). All participants receive a self-service breakfast, which is available in the adjacent building (Building B); for other meals they must make their own arrangements. The hostel also offers wireless internet access. Participants can park their cars for free in the parking lot in front of the hostel. More information is available on the website www.dic.si. and hosteldic.com/. 

Participants have (wireless) Internet access on all the computers at the Faculty of Arts and at the Ivan Cankar hostel, where they are staying.

The Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture is the central scholarly event through which the Republic of Slovenia promotes the study of and research into Slovene language, literature and culture throughout the world, by granting financial support on the basis of international contracts and co-operation programmes for ethnic Slovene organisations and researchers who are professionally engaged in Slovene, and for students at foreign universities who study Slovene. In allocating these scholarships, priority is given to Slovene specialists, university teachers, research and teaching assistants, postgraduate students and students of higher classes.

Scholarships for the 60^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture will be granted within the framework of: lectureships in Slovene at foreign universities; Slovene institutions in Austria, Italy and Hungary; and programmes of international cultural cooperation at the relevant institutions outside Slovenia. There are the following possibilities:

• A) full scholarship for the main and accompanying programme and accommodation in a three-bed room with breakfast in the hostel (extra charge of 286 EUR for a two-bed room with breakfast or 481 EUR for single room with breakfast; payment to be made on arrival at the hostel);
• B) partial scholarship for the main and accompanying programme and partial funding of accommodation with breakfast in the hostel (extra charge of 108 EUR for a three-bed room with breakfast or 286 EUR for a two-bed room with breakfast or 481 EUR for a single room with breakfast; payment to be made on arrival at the hostel).

Those receiving scholarships are requested to complete by 1 April 2024 the registration form on our website (60^th SSJLK, Registration Form). You are also requested to send by 1 April 2024, along with the completed registration form, the completed language test, or to send it to [email protected] or to [email protected].

The registration form for participants of the 60^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture paying the seminar fee and accommodation costs themselves should be sent by 1 May 2024. You can apply via the Internet at the website (60^th SSJLK, Registration Form).

In May or June 2024 placement interviews with participants will take place via videoconferencing.

The registration fee includes language classes, conversation classes, phonetics classes, lectures, learning materials, the seminar proceedings, the accompanying programme, and event organisation. Participants paying for themselves can book accommodation at the Ivan Cankar hostel.

Prices for those paying for themselves:

• fee: 649 EUR
  
• accommodation in three-bed room with breakfast: 234 EUR
  
• accommodation in two-bed room with breakfast: 286 EUR
  
• accommodation in single room with breakfast: 481 EUR

After we have received your registration form, we will send you the invoice for payment of the fee by e-mail. Please send your payment receipt no later than 20 June 2024.

Upon receipt of your registration form we shall send you the language test, which will help us place you in the right group.

In May or June 2024 placement interviews with participants will take place via videoconferencing.

The date of arrival for participants at the Ivan Cankar hostel is Sunday 30 June 2024; the programme begins according to the timetable on Monday at 9 a.m., 1 July 2024 at the Faculty of Arts.

The departure date is Saturday, 13 July 2024.

Participants at the Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture achieving 80 per cent participation in the compulsory seminar programme (language exercises, conversation practice, phonetic exercises, conversation practice with students of Slovene from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies and lectures) will receive a certificate of participation. The seminar will be credited under the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). Students who regularly attend language, conversation and phonetics classes, conversation practice with students of Slovene from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies, as well as lectures, and who pass the exam at the end of the seminar, will receive 3 credit points (3 ECTS).

The library of the Departments of Slovene/Slavic Studies keeps an open door for seminar participants. Throughout the duration of the seminar they can borrow books and turn for advice to the librarians. The library also prepares an exhibition every year, presenting recent professional literature, the best works of Slovene literature, and translations into foreign languages. The participants will visit the exhibition during their practical classes.

During the seminar, the Faculty of Arts bookshop offers all participants a 25% discount on the purchase of all textbooks from the Centre for Slovene as a Second and Foreign Language as well as publications of the University of Ljubljana Press, Faculty of Arts.

All seminar participants are recommended to obtain a certificate of medical insurance in their home countries, otherwise they must pay the expenses of medical care and medication themselves.

As they will not be entering Slovenia as tourists but for purposes of study or professional training, they are advised to arrange before they come a temporary residence permit for Slovenia. This is particularly important for citizens of third countries (not the European Union, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein), who are required to obtain this document even for short visits, while citizens of member states of the European Economic Area must obtain it within 90 days of entering Slovenia, however, they must register with the police immediately after their arrival.

Center za slovenščino kot drugi in tuji jezik
Seminar slovenskega jezika, literature in kulture
Damjan Huber
Trubarjeva cesta 3
SI-1000 Ljubljana

T: 00386 1 241 86 76
E: [email protected], [email protected]

The main seminar programme includes practical language classes (18 school hours*), conversation classes (18 school hours*), phonetics classes (4 school hours*), conversation practice with students of Slovene from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies (0–8 school hours* for intermediate groups, or 8 school hours* for each beginners group) and 11 lectures. Participation in this part of the programme is compulsory and is required in order to obtain the certificate of attendance. In the afternoon and evening there is a non-compulsory accompanying programme for participants.

*1 school hour = 45 minutes.

Practical language classes

Practical classes will probably be organised in 3 beginners, 4 intermediate and 3 advanced groups. According to their interests, participants of the advanced groups can choose among linguistic literary and general groups. Individual participants are assigned to an appropriate group on the basis of a language test completed before arrival at the seminar, and oral testing before the seminar starts. Practical classes are compulsory for all participants.

Conversation classes

These classes are aimed at improving communication skills, extending vocabulary, internalising communication patterns and eliminating errors. They will deal with themes taken from everyday life, with an emphasis on practical communication and on extending acquaintance with Slovenia and its culture. Conversation classes are compulsory for all participants.

Conversation practice with students from the Ljubljana Department of Slovene Studies

In the afternoon, up to eight hours of conversation with students in Ljubljana’s Department of Slovene Studies are also available to members of the beginner groups and optionally to members of intermediate groups. These conversation exercises are obligatory for the beginner groups, whereas those in the intermediate groups can choose between lectures (at least four) and afternoon conversation (if not attending lectures, they must attend the afternoon conversation sessions).

Phonetics classes

Phonetics classes are compulsory and organized on two different levels: (a) classes for beginners that start with an introduction to the Slovene spoken language and specifics of its phonetics, with examples from texts. This is followed by practical exercises to improve pronunciation and listening skills necessary for more efficient learning and use of the language. The exercises are adjusted to the participants’ level of knowledge and to their mother tongue; (b) exercises for intermediate and advanced level, intended to improve speaking skills and understanding of spoken texts.

Lectures

Lectures (11 in total) on Slovene language, literature and culture are obligatory for members of advanced groups, while members of intermediate groups can choose between lectures (at least 4) and afternoon conversation with Ljubljana students of Slovene Studies in Ljubljana (if not attending lectures, they must attend the afternoon conversation sessions). Lectures are public, so others can also attend them. The 60^th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture will focus on Metaphor in Slovene Language, Literature, and Culture. As always, the lectures will appear in the seminar proceedings and on the website. Similarly, the lectures will also appear on the portal Videolectures.

Within the framework of the 60th Seminar of Slovene Language, Literature and Culture, there will take place a two day international conference entitled Slovene at Foreign Universities – Metaphor in Translation, at which will participate teachers of and researchers into Slovene at universities and institutes around the world, many of them former participants in the seminar. Conference papers will be published in proceedings and on the website. All seminar participants are warmly invited to attend the conference.

The seminar also offers an afternoon-evening programme, which includes themed guided tours of Ljubljana, the showing of a Slovene film, a theatre performance, visits to museums, galleries and libraries, musical and literary evenings, etc. This additional programme includes a whole-day study excursion, which will take place this year on Saturday, 6 July 2024.