Eurograd message

                Another issue of "Technology and Language" has appeared, and with it a 
new call for contributions that appeals to philosophy, history of media 
and technology, theatre and film, disability and cultural studies, voice 
coaching and education, acoustics and sonification, musicology and 
anthropology..

https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/issue/19/

www.philosophie.tu-darmstadt.de/T_and_L

The latest issue features 13 papers that explore the various dimensions 
of the hermeneutic approach to science and technology.  There has been 
increasing interest in this field, and so it is easy to forget that a 
hermeneutics of science or technology was never meant to be. The 
editorial formulates this „original antagonism“  and each of the 12 
contributions seeks ways to overcome it.  The contributions include, on 
the one hand, considerations of science as a self-expressive human 
practice through taxonomies or metaphor. On the other hand, systematic 
distinctions are offered to better trace the symbolic dimensions in the 
perception of technical artefacts. The philosophical tradition has 
treated scientific explanation and humanistic understanding as two 
cultures. Here is a call to speak of explanation and understanding in 
science as well as technology.

There is a new CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS (deadline April 5, 2026: 
„Voice(s)“  – Pen and paper, printing press, typewriter and word 
processor are but some of the technologies of and for written language. 
But language is voiced in poetry and prose, in conversation and song, at 
the lectern and on stage, in cries of pain and moans of pleasure. To 
find and have a voice is fundamental to human existence, requiring 
technologies of the self but also coaching or speech-therapy. To have 
one‘s  voice heard is fundamental to human sociability, it is a matter 
not just of politics but also of megaphones and media platforms.  And 
yet the technologies of voice reach even more deeply into our daily 
lives.  1) Voices themselves are tunable instruments that can be used 
strategically. 2) Voices are subject to technical change not only in the 
age of AI when the human voice might be displaced. After the initial 
shock of the disembodied recorded voice, the question of voice becaime 
controversial when the era of silent movies (never quite) came to an 
end: Do mute people and things NOT have a voice as well?  3) Human and 
machinic voices serve as an interface to technology as we are 
interrogated by and speak to devices. There is, for example, the echo in 
its ancient and modern guise: Through sonifcation in science, 
technology, and art, we can interact with material constellations of 
otherwise inert things. Indeed, the birth of humanity itself has been 
associated with the evolutionary origins of voice production that gave 
rise to language and technology at once. — We invite scholars who seek 
to dialogue at the level of case-studies, grand narratives, or theory.  
(Guest editors: Hardy Frehe, Anna Shcherbak, and María José Ríos)

Other open calls (shortened)

„The Language and Poetics of Machines“ (if interested, contact us asap): 
The intelligibility of mechanical processes lends a peculiar expressive 
power to the machine. This became explicit when engineering scientists 
articulated a compositional grammar of mechanical elements. To construct 
a machine became a way of expressing an idea and promoting cultural 
development, thus implicated in labor and gender relations and questions 
of power. We welcome papers from the point of view of philosophy, 
culural and literary studies, (art) history, or engineering - expanding 
the discussion to machine theories in western, islamic, and chinese 
contexts, moving also from mechanical to organic or cellular machinery 
and the mechanics of digital language processing. The poetics of 
machines in the works of Lars Gustafsson, Jean Tinguely, or Rube 
Goldberg might also be considered. — Selected texts from this special 
issue may be invited for subsequent inclusion in a special issue of the 
Chinese journal Academia Ethica. (guest editors: DENG Pan and Kevin 
Liggieri)

„Technology and Tragedy“ (Deadline: September 5, 2025) — Prometheus, 
Daedalus and Icarus, Faust and Frankenstein are tragic characters. In 
the Anthropocene and the age of climate change, many pin their hopes on 
new technologies – as they confront the tragic end of the modern 
technological world. There is the shipwreck of the Titanic, the fiery 
destruction of the Hindenburg airship, the Bridge of San Luis Rey - they 
are framed as „tragedies“ and thus they receive a narrrative form which 
is a social technology in itself. This form enables us to observe, 
derive meaning, and create sense of events. This offers a space for 
self-reflection: what narratives do we use, and how do they shape our 
understanding of technology? (guest editors: Anonymous and Oliver 
Schlaudt) For an extended version of the call, see 
https://soctech.spbstu.ru/en/news/

„Technological Modernization: Western and Non-Western Accounts 
(Deadline: January 5, 2026) — For a long time- it went without saying: 
Modernization is firmly a Western affair, if only because of its origins 
in modern science, capitalism, industrialization, and the formation of 
liberal societies. In the contemporary multi-polar world and an age of 
technoscience, this view has been challenged. China and Russia, India 
and Brazil have been exploring non-Western models of modernization. How 
credible are these attempts? We invite narratives and counter-narratives 
of technological modernization from history and philosophy of 
technology, political theory, cultural studies, global TA and 
comparative governance, environmental and sustainability research, as 
well as the microsociological study of technological development. (Guest 
editors: Carl Mitcham, YAN Ping, and YE Luyang)

Beyond these calls for special topics, submitted papers and 
interdisciplinary explorations at the interface of technology and 
language are always welcome. The next deadline for submitted papers in 
English or Russian is October 10, 2025.

“Technology and Language” is a quarterly journal: international, peer 
reviewed, Scopus listed, online, open access, academic (no fees). 
Queries, suggestions, and submissions can be addressed to 
soctech@spbstu.ru or to Daria Bylieva (bylieva_ds@spbstu.ru) and Alfred 
Nordmann (nordmann@phil.tu-darmstadt.de).


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