Minutes of the General Assembly of the REELC/ENCLS

Florence, 17 September 2005.

A General Assembly of the REELC/ENCLS was held at the Rotonda Brunelleschi in Florence on 16 September 2005, from 18.30 to 20.00, in the context of the Conference “The Dialects of the Tribe”, Florence 15-17 September 2005. The Assembly was chaired by the outgoing General Coordinator of the Réseau/Network, Prof. Mario Domenichelli.

Present (in alphabetical order): Lucia Boldrini (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Laura F. Bulger (Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro), Daniele Chauvin (Paris IV, Sorbonne), Mario Domenichelli (Universita di Firenze), Gerald Gillespie (Stanford University), Anastasia Gjurcinova (University of Skopje), Marko Juvan (SRC of the Slovene Acedemy of Sciences and Arts, Ljubliana), Nijole Kaselioliniene (Université Pédagogique de Vilnius), Bart Keunen (University of Ghent), Frans-Willem Korsten (University of Leiden), Gabriela Macedo (Universidade do Minho), Gabriella Macri (Universita Aristotele Salonicco), Peter Madsen (University of Copenhagen), Kai Mikkonen (University of Helsinki), Alain Montandon (Université Blaise Pascal Clermont II), Florian Mussgnug (University College London), Liedeke Plate (Radbond University Nijmgen), Jola Skulj (ZRC SAZU Ljubliana), Monica Spiridon (University of Bucharest), Sonja Stosmenska-Elezeser (Institute of Macedonian Literature), Ales Vaupotic (University of Ljubliana), Sven Vitse (Vrye Universiteit Brussel), Bertrand Westphal (Université de Limoges).  

 Items discussed:

1.    Website.

An offer to set up and manage the website was received from Jola Skulj and Ales Vaupotic of the University of Ljubliana. ZRC-SAZU would provide technical help and server space. Ales Vaupotic would be the Webmaster. The offer was conditional to: a) a clear explanation (to be given at the meeting and confirmed in writing) of what the REELC/ENCLS wants from the website and how the material would be submitted; b) the agreement of ZRC-SAZU (to be sought by our Slovenian colleagues as soon as possible after the meeting).

It was agreed that the webpage would contain information on what the REELC/ENCLS is, its Charter, its officers, and provide databases for:

-        announcements (e.g. conferences, calls for papers…)

-        student and teacher mobility (e.g. postdoctoral posts, visiting professors)

-        PhD theses (e.g. titles, institutions, abstracts)

-        list of members with contact details and areas of research/teaching interests (and relevant links, e.g. to personal webpages, research projects etc.)

-        research projects

-        existing doctoral and postdoctoral courses and schools

-        job vacancies

Other databases / pages that would be of interest are: lists of national associations with links to their webpages when they exist; summer schools; relevant publications, with links to those available online.

The question of the language(s) to be used was discussed at length. The majority was in favour of publishing information in whatever language it was issued (e.g. a call for paper posted in French would remain in French); crucially, there is no expectation that the webmaster translate information received. It is hoped that members will send information to the webmaster in more than one language when possible or relevant.

Ales Vaupotic will liaise with Markus Winkler re the possibility of a mirror site located in Switzerland (this would ensure that if a server is down, the other will still available), and possible translation of key information / webpage instructions in French. Bertrand Westphal will initially act as link between Ales and Markus.

The question of whether the instructions on the page itself should be in English or English and French was not resolved, but the majority was in favour of the simpler, cleaner solution.  It was generally felt that Ales’s and the Slovenian team’s expertise should guide us on technical matters.

A list-serve and the distribution of information between the website and the list-serve was also discussed. No clear decision was reached however on who would manage the list-serve and what the relationship will be between website and list-serve. [This will have to be clarified through further discussion between the General Coordinator and the Webmaster]

Ales Vaupotic was nominated Webmaster of REELC/ENCLS (subject to his institution’s confirmation of the offer).

The Assembly expressed their warmest thanks to Ales, and to Jola for her good office in ensuring a solution to what was becoming a serious problem for the REELC/ENCLS.

2.    Charter. The Charter was approved with some corrections concerning: name; representatives from national associations; officers’ roles; clearer division between a Council and an Executive Committee. Bart Keunen will write in these corrections. The revised Charter will then be circulated to all members. It was accepted that some further revisions may be required between now and the 2007 conference (e.g. on the question of members registration, membership fees etc. For the moment membership of the REELC/ENCLS remains free and open to all).

3.     Election of New Officers.

The term of office of all officers elected in Brussels in 2003 came to an end. The General Coordinator, Mario Domenichelli, indicated that he did not wish to stand again in that role. Lucia Boldrini was elected General Coordinator 2005-2007. She made it clear that she was prepared to undertake this role only if supported by a “committee of committed officers” willing to help. Because of time pressure, officers were not elected on this occasion, and it was left to the new General Coordinator to solicit members of the Council to act as officers. Of the existing officers that were present (who can be re-elected for a second term), Jola Skulj, Monica Spiridon, Bart Keunen, Bertrand Westphal, and Mario Domenichelli as immediate past CG, were asked to continue as serving officers on the Executive Committee. Ales Vaupotic will also be co-opted to the Exec Cttee as Webmaster.

The General Coordinator undertook to contact all existing national representatives and/or national associations to ensure that all European countries are represented in the Council.

4. 2007 Conference.

There being no other offer, Prof. Alain Montandon offered to host the 2007 REELC/ENCLS conference in Clermont Ferrand, within his funded project on the life of literary genres.

The Assembly expressed their gratitude to Prof. Montandon for coming to the rescue.

Three priorities were affirmed: A scientific committee will have to be appointed; financial help should be offered to delegates who wish to participate but have scarce resources; efforts must be made to integrate and not sideline young researchers.

5.  Daniele Chauvin moved to thank Mario Domenichelli for the successful organisation of “The Dialects of the Tribes”; for having served his two years as General Coordinator, and especially for having brilliantly overcome the moment of extreme pessimism when it seemed that the REELC/ENCLS was not going to survive. The Assembly warmly supported Prof. Chauvin’s motion and expressed its thanks to Prof. Domenichelli.

6. Other Business: Bart Keunen wished to discuss an idea for funding but as there was no time, the discussion would take place between him and the General Coordinator at the first available opportunity.

The meeting ended shortly after 20:00.

Lucia Boldrini

03.10.2005