News
- While the conference has been going on, a postdoc position in rhetoric has been announced at Lund University:
- Read more, in English: https://lu.varbi.com/fr/what:job/jobID:940697/
- Läs mer på svenska: https://lu.varbi.com/se/what:job/jobID:940697/
- Read more, in English: https://lu.varbi.com/fr/what:job/jobID:940697/
Program
Online program for NKRF10: Rhetoric and Democracy Revisited
Book of Abstracts
Find a Book of Abstracts in PDF format here.
Venue
The conference will take place at University of Oslo’s campus at Blindern, in the building Sophus Bugges hus.
Keynotes
Ekaterina Haskins, Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences, Penn State
Commemorating An Inconvenient Past Amid an Uncertain Present: The Resistant Memory Commons in Russia
How can memory activists persuade fellow citizens to commemorate a difficult national past amid state-sponsored forgetting and apparent social apathy? Two civic initiatives, Last Address and Returning the Names, illustrate possibilities and challenges of grassroots memorializing in contemporary Russia. Over the last two decades, Russia’s official public memory has been dominated by celebrations of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II and nostalgia for the age of Stalin. In contrast, the memory of Soviet state terror represents an “inconvenient past” that challenges the narrative of national grandeur and the ideology of the strong state. To assert its control over the nation’s public memory, the Russian state has severely restricted access to archival evidence of Soviet repressions and has used legal and extra-legal means to intimidate memory activists. Last Address and Returning the Names are participatory memorial initiatives that focus on remembering individual victims of Soviet state terror. Using these examples, the lecture develops the notion of resistant memory commons, defined as an aggregate of reclaimed and newly created mnemonic resources, ways of mobilizing them in commemorative practices, and communities formed around shared remembrance.
Christina Matthiesen, Professor of Rhetoric, Lund University
Controversia and Critical Literacy – Lessons from a Comedy
Few discussions resemble Cicero’s idealised dialogues in De Oratore, which have served as a model to be emulated (Mendelson, 2004). Most real argumentation seems to go wrong. James Kastely explores the limitations of argument by treating the tragedy of Antigone as a theoretical work to critique and nuance idealistic and formalistic approaches to rhetoric and argumentation (Kastely, 1999). In Antigone, both parties would rather die than listen. Quintilian, in his catalogue of recommended readings for a rhetorician, highlights comedy in particular, as it is characterised by “the most eloquent freedom of speech and shows especially power in the denunciation of vice” (IO, X.1.65). In comedy, we find free speech at its highest level and a critical examination of human corruption, degeneracy, and shortcomings. In this talk, I build on Kastely’s insight but shift the focus from tragedy to comedy as a fertile ground for studying rhetoric as a situated, experiential, and deeply dialogical practice. I explore how comedy resonates with the classical exercise of controversia (Clark, 1949) and critical literacy (Freire, 1970). To illustrate this, I present a multi pentadic analysis of Ludvig Holberg’s short comedy Julestue (‘Yule Party’) from 1724. The play stages a household governed by a tyrant who is uncertain whether to hold a Christmas party, and therefore, at least on the surface, seeks advice. Around him, women without formal authority seek to influence the decision. Is he willing to listen, and to whom? Embedded within Julestue, I argue, is a theory of rhetoric from below, illuminating the interplay between rhetoric of the powerful and rhetoric of the oppressed.
In addition, a plenary conversation will be facilitated by Kristine Marie Berg, Associate Professor of Rhetoric, University of Copenhagen, with Jonas Kittelsen, of Extinction Rebellion Norway
Nordic Climate Activism and Democracy
Practical Information
The conference will be held at the University of Oslo campus at Blindern. The campus area is at a certain distance from downtown Oslo, where most of the relevant accommodation is located, but there is ample public transport, which will take you comfortably from the city to the university and back.
Getting to Oslo city centre from Oslo Airport Gardermoen
By far the easiest way to get to Oslo city centre is by train, either Flytoget (Airport Express) or Vy (local train). Travel time is typically between 19 and 25 minutes, depending on various factors. The former is faster and more comfortable; the latter is significantly cheaper. Depending on your hotel, most of you will want to get off either at Oslo S (Central Station) or Nationaltheatret (the National Theatre).
Accommodation
There is no official conference hotel, though discount codes will be available shortly for a small number of conveniently placed hotels:
In the Majorstua District; fairly busy shopping area, with plenty of cafés, etc. Travel to campus by tram/foot, then metro – or simply walk, which will take about 30 minutes. Discount code: THC2964.
At St Olavs plass, a small square in the periphery of the Palace Park; close to the event venue Litteraturhuset (House of Literature), etc.; approx. 15 minutes tram ride to campus.
Located at a small square adjacent to the Palace Park; conveniently close to tram line that runs straight to Blindern campus, approx. 11 minutes to campus.
On Jernbanetorget, the large area adjacent to the central station; busy area, somewhat further from campus than the above, but close to all public transport, e.g. 8 minutes to campus by metro; nearby the Opera House, the Munch museum, and the Bjørvika district.
A budget option, where you can choose between shared or private rooms. At Rodeløkka, in turn close to Grünerløkka, a vibrant area, though with a slightly longer route to campus, either by bus + tram or bus + metro.
Public Transport
All public transport within Oslo is organized by the transport company Ruter. We recommend downloading their app to plan your travel and get tickets. Single tickets are 146 kroner, the 24-hour pass is 137 kroner, whereas a 7-day pass is 379 kroner. See Ruter’s web pages for more information.
Organizing Committee
The organizing committee for NKRF10 is comprised of scholars from three different departments at the University of Oslo: Department of Linguistics and Scandinavian Studies, Department of Media and Communication and Department of Philosophy, Classics, History of Art and Ideas. These departments are also co-funders of the conference.
- Kristian Bjørkdahl
- Merete Pettersen
- Truls Strand Offerdal
- Øyvind Ihlen
- Tor Ivar Østmoe
- Fredrik Eugen Christiansen
- Eirik Vatnøy
Contact
To contact the organizers, get in touch with Kristian Bjørkdahl.
PhD Course
A PhD course will be organized in the two days preceding the actual conference, i.e. 8th–9th June. The course has separate deadlines. For more information, see the course page.
Nordic Rhetoric Association
The Nordic Conference for Rhetorical Research is administered by the Nordic Rhetoric Association (nordiskretorikk.no), which delegates responsibility for organizing each conference to a specific institution of higher education in the Nordics. We encourage everyone to become a member of the association.
Call for papers
Registration
Registration for the conference is now closed.
Conference Dinner
Registration for the conference dinner is now closed. Payment and registration for the conference dinner is now open! Pay here and register here. Note that both steps must be completed! EXTENDED (BUT FINAL) DEADLINE: 7 June 2026.