Conference programme.
On 26–28 June 2024, an international joint conference Livonica 3 + Minor Finnic Languages 2 = 5 will be held in Rīga, Latvia. Livonica is a conference dedicated to research related to Livonians, their language, culture and history. It first took place in Rīga and Tartu in 2011, and the second conference was held in UL Livonian Institute in 2019. Minor Finnic Languages 1 – Historical and Current Perspectives is a conference dedicated to research dedicated to all Finnic languages except for Finnish and Estonian. It was first held in Uppsala University in 2022.
The joint conference aims to bring historians, archaeologists, geneticists, anthropologists, folklorists, linguists, and other researchers together to explore the Central Baltic area, Livonians and minor Finnic languages. The special focus will be towards contacts. The purpose of the conference is to give researchers working on any of these subjects the opportunity to present their current research, get acquainted with the new research in related fields as well as participate in formal and informal discussions, and most importantly find new opportunities for collaboration.
Papers related to all aspects of minor Finnic cultures and languages and contacts with them, in history, archeology, anthropology, folkloristics, linguistics and related disciplines are welcome; we are not expecting papers on issues only relevant to Estonia or Finland, nor standard Estonian or standard Finnish. The keynote speeches will be given by Kristiina Tambets (Tartu), Rogier Blokland (Uppsala), and Jurgis Pakerys (Vilnius), and will address various topics: Livonians in Archeogenetic data (K. Tambets), measuring the influence of Latvian on Livonian (R. Blokland), and Finnic-Baltic contacts and transitivity marking (J. Pakerys). Peer-reviewed articles based on the conference presentations will be published in a special issue.
The conference is supported by Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (TK215), State Research Program “Latvian Studies for the Development of a Latvian and European Society” project “Multifunctional dictionary of Livonian” No. VPP-LETONIKA2021/2-0002 (2021–2024), State Research Program “Towards Development Of Open And Fair Digital Humanities Ecosystem In Latvia (Dheli, 2022–2025)”, Fundamental and Applied Research project “Continuity of Livonian: Understanding language transmission processes in a critically endangered contemporary indigenous community to develop process-driven instruments for preservation and revitalisation” (FLPP, Nr. lzp-2023/1-0264), Embassy of Estonian in Riga, Sigulda County Municipality.
The conference languages are English and Livonian.
The conference will take place online if the pandemic situation requires it.
There will be no registration fee for the conference.
Invited Speakers
- Kristiina Tambets (University of Tartu)
- Rogier Blokland (Uppsala University)
- Jurgis Pakerys (Vilnius University)
Scientific Committee
- Karl Pajusalu (University of Tartu)
- Valts Ernštreits (University of Latvia)
- Riitta-Liisa Valijärvi (Uppsala University/University College London)
- Petar Kehayov (University of Tartu)
- Ina Druviete (University of Latvia)
- Mark Fishel (University of Tartu)
- Eduards Plankājs (University of Latvia)
Organising Committee
- Valts Ernštreits (University of Latvia)
- Gunta Kļava (University of Latvia)
- Milda Kurpniece (University of Latvia)
- Uldis Balodis (University of Latvia)
Venue
The conference will be held at the University of Latvia Livonian Institute, Rīga, Latvia.
Please submit an anonymous, one-page abstract – in PDF format only – in one of the conference languages to liv@lu.lv by 18 February 2024. The presentation length is 20 minutes with additional 10 minutes for discussion.
Notification to authors: by 31 March 2024.
Contact
All questions regarding submissions should be emailed to the conference secretary milda.kurpniece@lu.l
