This session seeks papers that examine points of contact between different languages in Layamon’s Brut and in other prose and verse Bruts. Papers that focus on instances within the text where speakers of different languages interact are welcome, as are papers that take examine Layamon’s and other Brut authors’ methods of translating sections of source texts and/or incorporating other languages into their text. The session hopes to advance critical understanding of relationships between language and cultural or ethnic identity, language as a source of power or prestige, and translation as a way of conveying history to different audiences. What do perceptions of language tell us about the writers and readers of historical texts in the Middle Ages? What can the perceptions found in past texts tell us about the complex relationship between language and ethnic/national identity today?

Please submit an abstract of 300 or fewer words, accompanied by a 50-word short description, to: https://icms.confex.com/icms/2026/prelim.cgi/Index/SponsorList~Society%2... by September 15, 2025.

deadline for submissions:

September 15, 2025

full name / name of organization:

Society for International Brut Studies

contact email:

[email protected]