About this conference

Dynamic Figurations is the second in a series of three sequential conferences celebrating the work and memory of Michael Silverstein (1945-2020). The conference at the University of Montreal is concerned with the middle period of Silverstein’s career (1990-2005). During this period Silverstein offered further nuance to his concept of metapragmatic function, underscoring the inherently dialectical character of social indexicality through the analytic of ‘indexical order.’ Most important, however, this period was marked by Silverstein’s decisive turn towards textuality. In this vein, he developed powerful tools for understanding the relationship between texts and their cultural contexts. In so doing he highlighted the centrality of figurative (iconic-indexical) ritual semiosis in social life, and he considered the problem of the translation of cultural pragmatics – what he called ‘transduction.’

​

 

Other Conferences in the Series:

​

The Total Linguistic Fact: Structure, Practice, Ideology

Harvard University, Spring, 2023 (organized by Nicholas Harkness)

 

Signification, Circulation, Emanations
University of Chicago, Spring 2024 (organized by Constantine Nakassis)

 

 

​

Conference organizer

Luke Fleming

Associate Professor, Anthropology, University of Montreal

luke.fleming@umontreal.ca