Helsinki
Finlandia
We would like to invite you to submit an abstract to the panel we are organising as part of the 20th International Pragmatics Conference to be held in Helsinki in June 2027:
Voices of crisis: Reporting in crisis discourse (organizers: Minna Nevala, Hanna Limatius, Jenni Räikkönen)
This panel focuses on the pragmatics of direct and indirect reports in different crisis-related texts. In particular, we are interested in the ways in which various voices are expressed or suppressed in crisis discourses. In public discussions about a crisis, the inclusion and exclusion of specific voices affects citizens’ impressions of the crisis in question. Therefore, different voices can also be used strategically by authorities and the media to influence these impressions (Limatius & Koskela 2024; Räikkönen 2026). For example, as a specific linguistic strategy, intertextual reporting can be used to bring out the voices in different discursive contexts, affecting the way in which we report, what is reported in general, and when (cf. Collins 2001; Nevala & Palander-Collin 2010).
Furthermore, during crises, different segments of the populace need to feel that their concerns are understood. For this reason, the discursive representation of various voices in public discussion is crucial. For example, if crisis communication fails to platform the voices of minorised groups that are affected by the crisis, or their voices are only represented in ways that enforce negative stereotypes, trust in crisis management efforts within these groups is likely to suffer (Limatius 2025).
We welcome abstracts focusing on pragmatic studies of various aspects of voice and reporting in crisis discourse. Possible topics include but are not restricted to:
How and in which contexts are direct and indirect reports used in different crisis-related texts?
What types of differences are there in how the voices of different social groups are reported and expressed?
Whose voices are represented in specific genres of crisis discourse / texts about crises?
To whom is the language used in specific crisis-related texts targeted?
How are crisis messages received by different demographic subsets?
We welcome contributions dealing with various different types of crises (e.g., large-scale societal crises on a global or local level, institutional or organisational crises, inter-personal crises) and exploring different types of data (e.g., news reporting, social media data, political language).
Please submit your abstract (up to 500 words) via the conference website (https://ipra2027.exordo.com/) by 15 October 2026. In step 4 (‘Topics’) of the submission process select the panel ‘Voices of crisis: Reporting in crisis discourse’. Further information on submitting abstracts can be found in the IPC20 Call for Papers (https://pragmatics.international/page/CfP2027). Please note that an active IPrA membership is required to submit an abstract. If you have any further questions regarding the panel, please feel free to contact us directly.
References
Collins, D. 2001. Reanimated Voices: Speech Reporting in a Historical-Pragmatic Perspective. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.85.
Limatius, H. 2025. “The impacts are not evenly distributed”: Representation and inclusion of marginalized groups in authorities’ COVID-19 communication. Discourse & Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/09579265251353793.
Limatius, H. and M. Koskela. 2024. Voices in government crisis communication in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic: A rhetorical arena perspective. VAKKI Publications 16: 90–107. https://doi.org/10.70484/vakki.145712.
Nevala, M. and M. Palander-Collin. 2010. “O England! England! She says – my Father – my Sisters – my friends! – shall I ever see you more?” – Reporting in 18th-century correspondence. In Discourses in Interaction, ed. by S-K Tanskanen et al., 133–50. John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.203.
Räikkönen, J. 2026. Epistemic authority of experts in the New York Times and the New York Post: A corpus-assisted comparative study. Discourse & Communication 20(1): 152–169. https://doi.org/10.1177/17504813251412081.