Welcome to

 International Conference on Language and Identity (LanId 2025)

Background:

Language and identity are deeply and strongly interconnected. In today’s world marked by globalization, digital communication, migration (both forced and voluntary), accessibility of cultural exchange, power dynamics, this relationship is more complex and dynamic than ever. Identity is a complex construct that has given rise to a range of views and perspectives. Within the essentialist framework, it is perceived as fixed and naturally determined. Constructivists, however, consider it as very evolving and liable to change because it is constantly negotiated and shaped by a myriad of factors, including biological, personal, social, economic, political and even digital ones. Identity is described as achieved or ascribed depending on whether it emanates from self-categorization or other-categorization, giving rise in many cases to identity conflict and crisis. Also, identity is multidimensional, including different types such as social, cultural, ethnic, religious and national identities among others. Since the beginning of humanity and throughout history, language has been perceived as one of the defining features of identity. A language reflects not only who we are, but also how we relate to others who share or do not share the same space, history, culture, ethnicity or religion. Languages are markers of group membership, helping individuals identify with specific social, ethnic, regional or religious groups. Dialects, accents, and linguistic styles can signal an individual’s association with one or more groups.

Aim of the conference:

This conference aims to provide a platform for scholars to examine this complex and dynamic relationship between identity and language from linguistic, cultural, literary, historical, sociological, psychological and political perspectives. It invites participants to reflect on questions such as: How do languages contribute to the building and sustaining of national identity? How do multilinguals construct their multiple identity through code-switching and translanguaging? How is identity shaped when there is language contact? How do gender, age and social class shape social identity? How do speakers of minority and indigenous languages resist assimilation and preserve linguistic heritage? How does language intersect with identity in diasporic contexts, leading to language loss, language resistance, or hybrid identities? How do marginalized people, with limited access to power, express or are denied to express their identity through their native languages?