COGN|T|ON & THE MED|A

We are pleased to announce the International Conference on Cognition and the Media, a multidisciplinary event bringing together scholars from media studies, cognitive science, translation studies, linguistics, psychology, and related fields.

Drawing inspiration from the work of scholars such as Gilles Fauconnier, George Lakoff, Ronald W. Langacker and Mark Turner (cognitive linguistics), as well as more recent contributions by Giuseppe Balirano (digital and social media, multimodality, and multimodal stylistics), Jorge Díaz-Cintas (screen and digital media, cybersubtitling and cyberdubbing), Yves Gambier (translation, cognition, and media accessibility) and Marcello Giovanelli (stylistics, cognitive studies, and the public humanities), the conference seeks to explore the dynamic relationship between cognitive processes and media forms — including film, television, digital platforms, games, and social media — with a particular emphasis on translation and audiovisual practices. We aim to foster dialogue on how media influence, shape, and are shaped by cognitive mechanisms such as perception, attention, memory, emotion, and narrative comprehension, especially in contexts involving multilingualism, accessibility, and intersemiotic mediation.

At the heart of this conference is a key question: How do media shape and reflect the ways we think, feel, and communicate—especially across languages and cultures? In an era of saturated information, real-time interaction, and constant cross-linguistic exchange, cognition is at the centre of how media function and how meaning moves across borders. As cognitive science deepens our understanding of how we perceive, process, interpret and memorise information, it raises critical questions for media scholars, translators, and communication experts.

We invite papers that explore the dynamic intersection of cognition and media from multiple disciplinary perspectives. Submissions may address (but are not limited to):

• Cognitive theories of media consumption and production
• Media influence on perception, attention, memory, and emotion
• Narrative cognition in journalism, film, and digital storytelling
• Multilingual media processing and translation reception
• Cognitive approaches to subtitling, dubbing, and voiceover
• The role of cognitive load in audiovisual translation
• Cognitive models of narrative and storytelling in media
• Eye-tracking and neurocognitive studies in translation research
• Emotion and affect in digital storytelling
• The cognitive impact of multilingual media environments
• Translating culture, humour, and emotion across media
• Neurological and psychological studies of translation and media reception

• Perception of Time, Technology and Media in the Imagined 19th Century
• "Steam-powered" Media: Print, Telecommunication, and Information Manipulation
• Historical cognition and media technologies (e.g., clocks, automatons, memory devices)
• Artificial Memory in Alternative Worlds

REFERENCES 

Balirano, Giuseppe & Marilena Parlati (eds.). 2024. Cinema e Diversità - Disability Studies, Sensorialità e Prospettive di Ricerca Integrata. Naples: Paolo Loffredo Editore.

Balirano, Giuseppe & Bronwen Hughes (eds.). 2020. Homing in on Hate: Critical Discourse Studies of Hate Speech, Discrimination and Inequality in the Digital Age. Naples: Paolo Loffredo Editore.

Balirano, Giuseppe & Bronwen Hughes. 2024. "The Rainbow Conspiracy: A Corpus-Based Social Media Analysis of Anti-LGBTIQ+ Rhetoric in Digital Landscapes". In Maci, Stefania M., Demata, Massimiliano, Seargent, Philip, McGlashan, Mark (eds.). The Routledge Handbook of Discourse and Disinformation. London/New York: Routledge, pp. 306–324.

Balirano, Giuseppe & Margaret Rasulo. 2023. "Re-Constructing the Mentality of (Language) Learning: Post-Pandemic Challenges", Rassegna italiana di linguistica applicata 55, 2-3: 31-55;

Diaz-Cintas, Jorge & Aline Remael. 2021. Subtitling: Concepts and Practices. London and New York: Routledge;

Díaz-Cintas, Jorge and Rocío Baños. 2023. "Exploring New Forms of Audiovisual Translation in the Age of Digital Media: Cybersubtitling and Cyberdubbing". The Translator (forthcoming);

Díaz-Cintas, Jorge and Shiqing Liang. 2025. "Happy Together in Cyberspace: Danmu's Affective Impact on Documentary Viewing Experience". In: Lu, Sijing, Lu, Siwen &  Liang, Lisi, (eds.). Danmu-Mediated Communication and Audiovisual Translation in the Digital Age. Routledge: New York, NY, USA.

Fauconnier, Gilles & Turner, Mark. 2002. The Way We Think: Conceptual Blending and the Mind's Hidden Complexities. New York: Basic Books.

Gambier, Yves and Olli Lautenbacher (eds.). 2024. Text and Context with a Multimodal Framework, special issue of Babel, revue internationale de la traduction70 (1-2).

Gambier, Yves, andJudy Wakabayashi (eds.). 2025. A Cultural History of Translation in the Modern and Contemporary World, vol. 6 de la collection: Cultural History of Translation (Lieven D'hulst ed.). London: Bloomsbury Publishing.

Gambier, Yves, Titela Vilceanu, Ramunė Kasperė, & Nadina Vişan (eds.). 2024. Translation Times. Texts, Contexts and Environments. Bucharest: Editura Pro Universitaria;

Gambier, Yves. 2021. "Revisiting Certain Concepts of Translation Studies through the Study of Media Practice". In Esperança Bielsa, ed. The Routledge Handbook of Translation and Media. London, Routledge.

Giovanelli, M. & C. Harrison 2018. Cognitive Grammar in Stylistics: A Practical Guide. London: Bloomsbury;

Giovanelli, Marcello, Chloe Harrison and Louise Nuttall (eds.). 2021. New Directions in Cognitive Grammar and Style. London: Bloomsbury;

Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors We Live By. Chicago: University of Chicago Press;

Langacker, Ronald W. 1991. Concept, Image, and Symbol: The Cognitive Basis of Grammar. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter;

Nannicelli, Ted, & Paul Taberham (eds.). 2014. Cognitive Media Theory. London: Routledge;

Turner, Mark. 1996. The Literary Mind: The Origins of Thought and Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.