PhD position in Linguistics/Philosophy (1.0fte)

The Faculties of Arts and of Philosophy at the University of Groningen are looking for a PhD student in the NWO-funded research project “The Language of Fiction and Imagination” (https://sites.google.com/site/emarmaier/vidi) led by Dr. Emar Maier

*Project Description*

Fiction is interpreted differently from non-fiction. In the context of a fiction, the usual expectations of truth and reference are out the window. We all know that Frodo never existed, yet we can interpret stories about him and even be emotionally involved with this non-existent character. Since traditional formal semantics has fundamental difficulties with things like non-referring names and inconsistent plots, literary scholars have turned to cognitive linguistics. The current project will build a bridge between cognitive and formal semantics, exploiting existing semantic frameworks (e.g. Discourse Representation Theory, Mental Spaces), and philosophy (e.g. Mental Files, pretense theories of fiction), in order to arrive at a formally explicit account of the interpretation of fiction.

The project has three parts: (A) formally modelling mental states, including imagination and belief (PhD1); (B) modelling fiction as imagination updates (PI); and (C) analyzing linguistic fiction markers (PhD2). The position advertised is for subproject C. It is centered on the linguistic questions raised by the project as a whole: How does a reader even know that a given text is fiction? Are there linguistic clues an author can leave to mark a text as fiction? Putative examples of such “fiction markers” include narrative subject–verb inversion (in Dutch: “Komt een skelet bij de dokter…”), past tense marking in children’s pretend play (“You were the father and I was the baby”), the historical present, and free indirect discourse. The goal is to give a formal semantic analysis of these and other constructions, building on the semantic machinery for fiction interpretation developed in the other subprojects, and engaging with existing work in both formal/cognitive linguistics and literary studies/narratology.

*Qualifications*

Our ideal candidate has
– a strong background in formal semantics (through training in theoretical linguistics, logic, and/or philosophy of language), and a clear interest in (linguistic aspects of) literature/narratology;
– excellent English and academic writing/presentation skills;
– an MA or MSc degree in a field relevant to the project (e.g. linguistics, philosophy, literary studies, A.I.);

*Organisation*

The PhD position is jointly hosted by two departments, The Department of Theoretical Philosophy in the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Center for Language and Communication in the Faculty of Arts. The successful applicant will be working under direct supervision of dr. Emar Maier with co-supervision of promotores prof. dr. Petra Hendriks and prof. dr. Jan-Willem Romeijn.

*Conditions of employment*

The University of Groningen offers a salary of ?2,174,- (salary scale PhD students Dutch Universities) gross per month in the first year, up to a maximum of ? 2,779,- gross per month in the final year, based on a fulltime position. The position requires residence in Groningen.

The preferred starting date is 1 January 2017, or earlier.

*Application*

You may apply for this position until Tuesday 20 September (23:59 local Dutch time) by means of the application form. For submission details and required documents, see the full advertisement at the RuG vacancies website:
http://www.rug.nl/about-us/work-with-us/job-opportunities/overview?details=00347-02S00052TP&cat=phd
Contact Dr Emar Maier (e.maier@rug.nl) for more information about the job or a full description of the project.

Project website: https://sites.google.com/site/emarmaier/vidi