Group Members,
I may be making progress at getting information out into the scientific com=
munity about talking birds. I was recently invited to present a paper and A=
/V presentation at a European conference about communication with other ani=
mals. It would appear from the conference announcement that Europeans may b=
e more receptive to cross-species verbal exchanges.
My talk presents information and examples about how man does not often rece=
ive messages from birds capable of speaking with us; the title is Disrupted=
Dialogue: A Macaw Using Language. Information about the conference is belo=
w for those who might be interested.
Mike
Florida
www.ParrotSpeech.com
=C2=A0
=C2=A0
5th Biennial Conference
Posted at December 18, 2011 | By : easlcestaff| Conferences
The 5th EASLCE International Conference on =E2=80=9CNatura Loquens: Eruptiv=
e Dialogues, Disruptive Discourses,=E2=80=9D to be held in Tenerife, Canari=
es, SPAIN, 27-30 June 2012. The event is organised on behalf of EASLCE by t=
he University of La Laguna, Faculty of Philology, and the Department of Eng=
lish and German Studies, in the island of Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
There is an ongoing debate nowadays over the agency of Nature and the neces=
sity of reopening the definition of what counts as speech. One would need t=
o differentiate between new insights about animal communication and the ide=
a that non-animal and inanimate nature =E2=80=9Csignify,=E2=80=9D or the su=
ggestion of biosemiotics that life itself is a process of signification. Th=
us, Nature often presents articulated reactions which can be both eruptive =
and disruptive. Attention will focus on the contrasting relationship betwee=
n Nature and humankind, ever in perpetual and delicate interrelationship si=
nce the history of humankind. In effect, the ability to speak and communica=
te made it possible to detach this Homo sapiens genus from other animal spe=
cies, establishing thus a hierarchy that has been working until present day=
. Such Aristotelian human =E2=80=9Cloquacity=E2=80=9D is based on a =E2=80=
=9Cgreat chain of being=E2=80=9D that places this Homo loquens in a superio=
r position, being able to
structure and articulate the universe. If we were able to deconstruct and =
reverse this idea in order to acknowledge Nature=E2=80=99s ability to speak=
out, then multiple and creative conversations could be established, so as =
to reconstruct the natural order of things. The main purpose of this confer=
ence is then to reenact, rethink and fluidize the dialogic balance between =
Nature and human knowledge, engaging in an intellectually fairer and more e=
mpathetic communication.
EASLCE stands for: The European Association for the Study of Literature, Cu=
lture, and the Environment, as part of a worldwide network of affiliated or=
ganizations, brings together scholars, artists, and activists with an inter=
est in the study of the interrelationship between nature and human cultures=
, aiming to foster the dialogue on environmental issues across cultural and=
disciplinary boundaries.
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