June 27-July 2, 2027

University of Helsinki, Finland

Deadline: September 15, 2026

Abstract submission to: artificialothers@proton.me

20th International Pragmatics Conference

Panel organisers: Emma Lupano, Bettina Mottura, Natalia Riva

Bridges are not built only between people. They are also imagined through the figures, technologies, and social actors that societies create to negotiate difference. Among these figures, humanoid robots and biomimetic agents occupy a revealing position: they are simultaneously technological artefacts, cultural objects, and discursive constructions.

In a period marked by growing social and political polarisation, public discourse increasingly presents artificial agents as potential mediators, companions, assistants, or, conversely, as threats and sources of disruption. This panel examines discourse about robots rather than human–robot interaction itself, while recognising the close relationship between representations of artificial agents and the forms of interaction they make possible.

The panel explores how linguistic and multimodal resources contribute to the construction of robots as social actors and how these constructions shape understandings of otherness, agency, and social cohesion. We are particularly interested in the metaphors, narratives, evaluative practices, and stance-taking strategies through which humanoid and biomimetic robots are represented in different social, political, cultural, and linguistic contexts. While the panel is not inherently contrastive, it encourages contributions that can help shed light on local, national or international discursive trends on the subject.

Possible topics of research include (but are not limited to):

• the institutional, corporate, and policy discourses that formulate promises, expectations, or warnings concerning robots in social domains;
  
• the ethical debates surrounding the deployment of robots in contexts such as education, healthcare, social management, justice, political dialogue, and military activities;
  
• the discursive representations of biomimetic robots and the ways they blur or reinforce categorical boundaries between humans, animals, plants, and machines.

We welcome established as well as innovative analytical approaches including metaphor analysis, critical discourse studies, conversation analysis, corpus pragmatics, historical pragmatics, and related frameworks, in order to shed light on:

• narratives that portray robots as agents of conflict resolution, reconciliation, or social integration, as well as discourses that challenge or resist such visions;
  
• metaphors and figurative framings of robots as bridges, mediators, servants, threats, or mirrors of the human, and their variation across languages and cultures;
  
• epistemic markers, evaluative language, and other pragmatic resources that contribute to attribution or denial of intentionality, emotions, and agency;
  
• discursive strategies such as humour and irony that either humanise or delegitimise artificial agents.
  

By bringing together pragmatics, discourse analysis, human–robot interaction, and science and technology studies, the panel aims to advance understanding of how discourse about artificial beings may contribute to either reinforcing or reconfiguring contemporary social divides.

Please send a short bio of max. 150 words and an abstract of min. 250-max. 500 words with 5 key bibliographical sources to artificialothers@proton.me.

Abstract submission deadline: 15 September 2026.

Acceptance notifications will be sent out by the end of September 2026.

The panel is part of the 20th International Pragmatics Conference to be held at the University of Helsinki, Finland, from 27 June to 2 July 2027. For further information, please check the Conference link: https://pragmatics.international/page/IPC20

Please note that the conference will be held only in person. Travel and accommodation expenses are to be covered by the participants.