The congress theme is “PROCESSES, MAPS, NARRATIVES”. The theme stems from the awareness that plenty of humanistic practices seem to have switched their main focus from “result” to “process”. This is for instance the case with arts, where the concepts of “preparation”, “making of”, “work in progress” are becoming more and more central in the development and implementation of the artwork. But it is the whole society that seems to have adopted an “open kitchen” principle as the predominant way of understanding and experiencing its many practices.

Processes can of course be displayed in space and/or time, and “maps” and “narratives” are the main forms of articulation of the two dimensions. It is apparent that the “mapping” (that is, the visualization, listing, geographicalization) of knowledge have acquired an importance within humanities that was previously evident only in natural sciences. But at the same time, the end of postmodernism has also invalidated the “death of narratives” claim, and storytelling, time unit-based, discoursive forms of knowledge have regained that attention that was temporarily neglected in the previous couple of decades. What is thus the current status (and relationship) of maps and narratives? Are they conflicting or collaborative strategies? What are the pros and cons brought by these two “processes”, when it comes to the shaping and development of knowledge?

Although the main methodological interface is located within the area of semiotic, communication and cultural studies, ICoN aims to establish a genuinely interdisciplinary platform for scholars and students (in the spirits of Numanities themselves), therefore submissions are welcome from all disciplines.