Report on the conference entitled “The hero of our times”
“The hero of our time. Past and present linguistic creations of the man of the age” – conference report
On 24 June 2022, an interdisciplinary conference entitled. “The Hero of Our Times. Past and present linguistic creations of a man of the epoch”, organised by first-year doctoral students of the Doctoral College of the Faculty of Letters of the University of Wrocław under the direction of dr Tomasz Wysłobocki. The event had a hybrid character, with stationary speakers and special guests meeting at the Zajezdnia History Centre, while the proceedings could also be followed via the Teams platform. The conference was held under the media patronage of the Hipermiasto portal. Special guests were dr hab. Agnieszka Małocha, dr Adam Flamma and dr hab. prof. Urszula Glensk.
The aim of the conference was to present the results of research into the broadly understood figure of the hero from a linguistic, media and literary perspective. Topics discussed by speakers ranged from gender issues to video games to the COVID-19 pandemic, provoking fruitful discussions among participants and guests.
The event was divided into three panels, each of which began with a longer lecture by a special guest, while the remaining papers were delivered by five first-year KDWF doctoral students. The morning’s first panel featured the following speeches: “Hero, heroine or hero_woman of our time? Linguistic prolegomena” (lecture by dr hab. Agnieszka Małocha.), “Bohater, bohaterka i bohaterstwo w Słowosieci – polskim słowownik relacyjny” (mgr Alicja Derych), “Analiza gramatycznego aspekty verowników użytych przy opisach ‘bohaterów’ oraz wpływ tego tego tego aspekt na postrzeganiem postaci” (mgr Wojciech Milczarski). The second round of the session opened with a lecture entitled “Digital protagonist – dostosowywanie postaci w grach wideo do wymagań współczesnych graczy” (dr Adam Flamma), preceded by “Ofiary choroby czy pandemiczni bohaterowie? – metafory walki w listach o zmarłych na COVID-19” (mgr Magdalena Witkowicz). The final panel consisted of a lecture and two presentations: “Mikrohistorie a opowieści głównego nurtu w literaturze dokumentalnej” (dr hab. prof. UWr Urszula Glensk), “Konsument wypalony – reprezentacyjny przedstawiciel epoki późnego kapitalizmu” (mgr Andrzej Graul) and “Nie-ludzki bohater – postantropocentryczna wizja heroizmu na przykładzie powieści Blösch Beata Sterchi” (mgr Natalia Czudek).
In addition to the presentations, guests could also listen to the discussions that followed each panel. The questions asked provoked scholarly discussions oscillating broadly around the issues of heroes and heroism as seen from the perspective of, among others, inclusive language, gender and post-anthropocentric perspectives.
Full list of doctoral students organising the conference: mgr Anna Bartnicka, mgr Anna Berezowska, mgr Anna Borkowska, mgr Jakub Chudy, mgr Natalia Czudek, mgr Alicja Derych, mgr Andrzej Graul, mgr Małgorzata Grochowina, mgr Monika Horodecka, mgr Mateusz Kowalski, mgr Natalia Lazreg, mgr Wojciech Milczarski, mgr Ewa Orłowska, mgr Andrianna Trojan, mgr Bartłomiej Wiejak and mgr Magdalena Witkowicz.
Anna Bartnicka
Alicja Derych
