On 21 October 2022, the Institute of Discourse Pragmatics (IDP) was officially launched at Zhejiang International Studies University (ZISU), which also marked the opening ceremony of the First International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics (ICDP-1), held from 21 October to 23 October, 2022, at ZISU, Hangzhou, China. Distinguished professors or editors from home and abroad were invited as guest speakers for the ceremony, including Professor Sun Youzhong, Vice President of Beijing Foreign Studies University and President of China Association for Intercultural Communication Studies, Professor Jef Verschueren, Secretary General of International Pragmatics Association, Professor Istvan Kecskes, President of American Pragmatics Association and founding Editor ofIntercultural Pragmatics, Professor Chen Xinren, President of China Pragmatics Association, Professor Jürgen Spitzmüller, Deputy Head of Department of Linguistics at the University of Vienna, and Aldeena Raju, editor of Humanities and Social Sciences at Springer.
Professor Zhang Huanzhou, Vice President of ZISU, chaired the opening ceremony and Professor Hong Gang, President of ZISU, delivered a welcome speech. Also in attendance were Professor Chai Gaiying, Vice President of ZISU, Professor Mao Zhenhua, Director of Publicity (ZISU), Professor Zhao Fa, Director of Collaborative Innovation Center for Intercultural Communication of Zhejiang Culture (ZISU), Professor Zhou Lie, Director of National and Regional Research Center (ZISU), Professor Ma Xiaolin, “Xixi Scholar” (Distinguished Talent, ZISU), Director of Institute of the Mediterranean Rim (ZISU), and Professor Sun Miantao, Director of Education Governance Research Center (ZISU).
In his welcome speech, President Hong pointed out that the launch of IDP marked a historical moment in the development of ZISU, and that IDP seeks to embrace a global vision and an integrated perspective in its endeavor to deliver innovation and to bring momentum to the studies of Discourse and Pragmatics. President Hong also added that “IDP has signed a cooperative agreement with the Department of Linguistics, University of Vienna, and has been working to shore up cooperation with overseas universities and institutions such as Bar-Ilan University and the University of Helsinki.” At the end of his speech, President Hong wished a bright future for IDP.
Figure 1. Professor Hong Gang, President of ZISU
Professor Zhang Huanzhou, Professor Zhou Lie, Professor Zhao Fa and Professor Sun Miantao attended the Unveiling Ceremony of the Institute of Discourse Pragmatics. Professor Xie Chaoqun was appointed the Director of IDP.
Figure 2. Unveiling of IDP
Professor Xie Chaoqun, supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents from Chinese Ministry of Education, remarked that the primary objective of IDP is to bring together scholars and researchers from around the world to join forces in stimulating interaction and collaboration and in advancing studies in Discourse Pragmatics which, as an alternative approach to the studies of discourse and pragmatics,
has the potential to exert great impact not only on nations, societies and cultures, but on each individual existence in various contexts and genres and that the integration of discourse and pragmatics can stimulate, invigorate and ultimately shape the landscape of this promising field called Discourse Pragmatics. Currently the Institute is publishing the journalInternet Pragmaticsand the book series “Advances in (Im)politeness Studies”, with John Benjamins and Springer respectively.
ICDP-1, with focus on “Discourse Pragmatics and Communication,” has brought together more than 100 scholars and researchers at 56 universities or institutions from 15 countries around the world for three days of discussions on topics touching upon multimodal interaction, internet interaction, (im)politeness, intercultural communication, online medical discourse and business interaction, language teaching/learning, literature, etc., all related to Discourse Pragmatics . The conference features 12 keynote speeches and 23 panel discussions, with nearly 1,000 on/offline attendees. Noticeably, the 12 keynote speakers,who are distinguished scholars in the field, have drawn extensive attention to their topics, namely, Professor Istvan Kecskes (The role of context in intercultural discourse) from the State University of New York at Albany, Professor Chen Xinren (“Let’s...together”: Rapport management in Chinese directive public signs) from Nanjing University, Professor Michael Haugh (Theorising discourse pragmatics) from the University of Queensland, Professor Helmut Gruber (What is discourse pragmatics? – Towards a linguistics of the utterance) from the University of Vienna, Professor Huang Guowen (Ecological analysis of discourse and harmonious discourse analysis) from South China Agricultural University, Professor Feng Zongxin (Paradoxes of (im)politeness in and of literary discourse) from Tsinghua University, Professor Elda Weizman (Conceptual and methodological crossroads in pragmatic research: The case of irony) from Bar-Ilan University, Professor Xia Dengshan (A diachronic analysis of persuasion in Chinese political discourse between the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period) from Beijing Foreign Studies University, Professor Pilar Garcés-Conejos Blitvich (A discursive-pragmatic approach to Cancel Culture – Intergroup communication and the on/offline nexus) from the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, Professor Miao Xingwei (Stereotyping in the discursive construction of gender identity) from Beijing Normal University, Professor Xie Chaoqun (Doing (im)politeness with and beyond discourse pragmatics) from ZISU, and Professor JefVerschueren(The pragmatics of fragmented continuity in public discourse) from the University of Antwerp. Particularly, Eugenia Diegoli from University of Bologna was the recipient of ICDP-1 Best Paper Award for Doctoral Candidates.
At the closing ceremony of the Conference, Vice President Chai Gaiying delivered a speech, stressing that the launch of IDP is not only a landmark initiative that seeks to integrate the studies of Discourse and Pragmaticsand to explore more potentials and possibilities in the field, but a significant milestone in the long-term development of ZISU and that she has every confidence to believe that the newly established Institute will make a difference in this promising filed and will be thriving and contributing in no small measure to the rapid development of Discourse Pragmatics, both nationally and internationally. Professor Xie Chaoqun concluded the ceremony with the announcement that the Second International Conference on Discourse Pragmatics (ICDP-2) will be held from 20 October to 22 October 2023 at ZISU.
