Centrum and Periphery in Slavic Worlds: Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Perspectives

The Institute of Slavic and Baltic Philology of the Eötvös Loránd University

and Studia Slavica (AK-Journal) announce the international conference

Centrum and Periphery in Slavic Worlds: Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Perspectives

on 15th-16th October 2026

in Budapest, at Eötvös Loránd University Faculty of Arts (1088 Budapest, Múzeum krt. 4-6.)

Application form_2026_Centrum and Periphery in Slavic Worlds_Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Perspectives

The modern development of Slavic nations and cultures has been fundamentally shaped by the shifting dynamics between centrum and periphery. These relations have influenced the processes of national formation, literary canon-building, and cultural self- definition. Within the broader European context, Slavic societies have often occupied both positions simultaneously: peripheral to Western European centres, yet central in relation to their own linguistic, cultural, or imperial peripheries. The dialectics of centrum and periphery are reflected in symbolic, linguistic, and cultural hierarchies. The emergence of standard languages, the canonization of literary traditions, and the establishment of academic disciplines – including Slavistics itself – were shaped by these asymmetrical relations.

The conference invites scholars to explore how the interrelations between centrum and periphery have been articulated, negotiated, and represented in Slavic cultures, languages, and literatures, and how these dynamics continue to shape the field of Slavistics today.

The conference offers opportunities for papers in the following fields and topics:

• -  linguistic hierarchies and standardization processes in Slavic languages;

• -  cultural and literary centres and their peripheries in different historical periods;

• -  the influence of imperial, colonial, and postcolonial frameworks on Slavic

  identities;

• -  the role of translation and mediation between central and peripheral Slavic

  cultures;

• -  epistemic hierarchies within Slavistics: dominant paradigms and marginalized

  perspectives;

• -  regionalism, provincialism, and the politics of representation in Slavic literatures;

• -  interactions between Slavic and non-Slavic centres and peripheries;

• -  the periphery as a space of cultural resilience and transformation.

  We encourage contributions rooted in linguistics, literary studies, cultural history, and comparative approaches, as well as those employing interdisciplinary and theoretical frameworks such as postcolonial studies, cultural memory theory, and discourse analysis.

Languages of the conference presentations are English and all Slavic languages.

Application deadline: June 30, 2026.

Please send the application form (download here) to the email address studiasl@btk.elte.hu.

There is no participation fee for the conference, but all costs related to the conference (travel, accommodation, meals, etc.) are the responsibility of the applicant.

The papers of the conference will be published in the academic journal Studia Slavica (according to the rules of the journal).

The organizing committee of the conference

Róbert Kiss Szemán - president

Krisztina Menyhárt
Péter Pátrovics
András Zoltán

Kata Juracsek
Sarolta Tóthpál – secretary

Dance card in the shape of a fan with lists of European ballroom and Croatian folk dances. Ljudevit Gaj’s Printing house, Zagreb, 1848.

Croatian bilikum (ritual guest-welcoming drinking vessel) with the inscriptions Čeh, Leh and Meh. Stoneware, 1840.