CFP: 2026 Symposium “Repurposing Lexica as Ethnographic Data”

Well-known ethnographic sources tend to present their data explicitly. However, as studies such as Dictionaries as a Source of Folklore Data (2020) have demonstrated, it is also possible to find collateral ethnographic data in other sources, such as dictionaries. In such works, proverbs, rhymes, narratives, toponymic legends, plantlore, and customs and beliefs can be in the definitions, examples and appendices of dictionaries. This may be unsurprising, considering the fact that folklorists such as Jacob Grimm, Elias Lönnrot, and Vuk Karadžić were also lexicographers. But this also applies to more humble works as well.

A symposium on the theme of “collateral data: repurposing lexica as ethnographic sources” aims to spark discussion about the broader methodological implications of using the aforementioned sources. What unique insights might these collateral sources offer in their oblique capture of cultural information? How do we assess the reliability of ethnographic information that appears incidentally rather than as the primary focus? How do different scholarly traditions vary in their treatment of such data? The keynote speakers will be Richard Coates (University of the West of England) and Angun Sønnesyn Olsen (University of Bergen). The symposium will be held at the University of Bergen, Norway, April 23–24, 2026.

The organizers particularly encourage submissions that:

• Analyze historical dictionaries and their embedded cultural information
• Explore place-name volumes as repositories of folk beliefs and practices
• Investigate botanical lexica and their ethnobotanical implications
• Consider the role of example sentences and usage notes as windows into social life
• Examine how compilers’ biases and historical contexts shaped these collateral data
• How to integrate the often-fragmentary data into the larger picture
• Present case studies of successful use of lexicographic and ethnographic materials
• Discuss what the implications of digitization are for collateral data

Papers should be 20 minutes in length, with 10 minutes for discussion. Please submit abstracts of no more than 300 words by December 1, 2025 via the form at https://tinyurl.com/BergenData. Notifications of acceptance will go out before the end of 2025.

For further information, please contact Peder Gammeltoft at Peder.Gammeltoft@uib.no.