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4pm            Introduction: Yuliya Komska

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4:30-6:00    Conversation I: Recognizing fascist language(s) in the 21st century

 

Is recognizing fascist language an indispensable stepping stone to antifascist language practice? If so, what does “fascist language” mean in the 21st century and how can one notice its various expressions? If not, why isn’t that essential?

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In conversation: Susan Benesch, Lynne Tirrell, TM Garret, Jason Stanley. Moderator: Yuliya Komska

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10-11:30     Conversation II: Antifascist language(s) and agency in multilingual society

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When the phrase “antifascist language” is used (which is infrequently), it is typically in the singular. This conjures up a monolingual entity, and yet, contemporary societies are anything but monolingual. How does multilingualism come to bear on the project of imagining antifascist language? Can we—and who is “we”?—fathom and nurture some single intrinsically multilingual, polyphonic, inclusive antifascist language, and what would this look like in practice? Or should the goal, instead, be to foster a multitude of antifascist languages—and how exactly would these interact, communicate, cross-pollinate?

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In conversation: Ilan Stavans, Vicente Rafael, Heidi Tworek. Moderator: Eman Morsi

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1:00-2:30    Conversation III: Sources for antifascist language(s)

 

It is possible to argue that antifascist languages require new thoughts, new words, new rhetorical devices, new syntactical structures, new voice pitches, speech patterns, or formats for delivery. Conversely, one could say that antifascist language is already there in some iterations or formats that society systematically disparages, overlooks, underfunds. What are these sources, in both cases, whose are they, and how can we approach them more respectfully and creatively? Where can we look for them? How can we notice them sooner? What structural changes—both ideal and eminently attainable—would their cultivation take?

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In conversation: Kim Kelly, Michelle Moyd, Natasha Lennard, Christopher Vials. Moderator: Roberto Rey Agudo

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3:00-4:30    Conversation IV: Making antifascist language(s) practice sustainable

 

Numerous activist collectives and authors have put forth maintenance and care as the only viable alternatives to both exploitation and boundlessly wasteful consumerism. What would maintenance and care look like for antifascist language(s)? What forms of sociality and human contact, what institutions, and what technologies (if any) would they require?

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In conversation: Jae Nichelle, Sasha Hemon, David Gramling, Moira Weigel. Moderator: James Dorsey

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4:30-5:00      Concluding remarks and discussion, Susan Brison