Abstract Submission Deadline: 30 September 2026.

Call for papers for the international conference on “Modern Greek Literature and Sound Culture, 19th-21st centuries” at the Library of the School of Philosophy, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens,
in Athens, 18 and 19 March 2027.

This conference is organised by the research project “Reading Poetry Aloud: Education, Culture and the Media in Greece, 1930-1960” (ALOUD) (Principal investigator: Fiona Antonelaki, 4th Call for H.F.R.I. Research Projects to support Postdoctoral Researchers), which is hosted at the Laboratory of Modern Greek Philology in the Department of Philology.

Histories of Modern Greek Literature have hitherto focused on the circulation and reception of literary works via print media, leaving out of their scope the social and cultural uses of literature by diverse communities of vocal readers in various environments, e.g., school performances, poetry readings as part of social gatherings, lectures, stage performances, radio broadcasting, spoken-word recordings. This conference aims to address this gap by exploring the multifaceted relationship between modern Greek literature and sound culture from the nineteenth century to the present. Papers are invited across a broad spectrum of interests that engage with, and perhaps combine, methods and approaches taken from literary studies, cultural history, theatre studies, musicology, sound and media studies.

Topics include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

1. Literary genres, orality and performance The history of literary genres and forms in relation to voice and sound cultures. Poetic genre and performativity (e.g., dramatic monologue, occasional poetry). Contemporary forms of spoken-word/performance/sound poetry.

2. Reading communities, voice and reception Au/oral dissemination of literature: cultural politics and institutions. Public and private readings. The role of reading aloud in popularizing literature and shaping the national literary canon.

3. Literature, technologies of sound and intermediality Literary modernism and mass audio media (e.g., radio broadcasting, spoken-word recordings). Adaptations of literary works for the stage and the radio. Sound recording, creative experimentation and writing practices: composing literary works through the aid of the tape recorder.

4. Soundscapes in literary texts Representations of voice and sound in modern Greek poetry and prose. Literary texts as archives of historical soundscapes. Realism and phonographic representations of reality.

5. Close listening to literary recordings Analysis (close listening) of historical literary recordings. The “authentic” interpretation of the author. Analyzing poetic rhythm, voice and silence in recorded literature. Styles and techniques of vocal performance in relation to schools and methods of acting.

6. Reading aloud in education Recitation and “oral interpretation” classes in schools and drama schools. Recitation and elocution printed manuals and handbooks. Reading literature aloud in contemporary classrooms.

7. Archive, voice and sound Audio archives of modern Greek literature: Preservation and digitization. Non-commercial literary recordings and private collections. Radio archives of the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT).

8. Literary performance and digital media Literature and digital listening (e.g., audiobooks, podcasts). AI voice and audiobook narration.

Please submit your title and abstract (300 words max.) as a Word document to aloudconference@gmail.com by 30 September 2026. The document should include your name, current affiliation and a brief bio. Each presentation should not exceed 20 minutes. The conference languages will be Greek and English and all speakers are required to present their papers in person. The conference proceedings will be published in electronic form. Detailed information about the publication of the volume will be given after the event.