English logo

Symposium in Memory of Nils Erik Enkvist on His 100th Birthday

  • 22.09.2025
  • 10:00 - 17:45
  • Åbo Akademi, Arken building, Tehtaankatu 2, Turku
  • The Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters, in collaboration with Åbo Akademi University, is organizing a symposium in memory of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Society’s honorary member, Professor Nils-Erik Enkvist. The full-day symposium will take place in Turku on Monday, September 22, 2025. The event will highlight Enkvist’s significant contributions to language and literary studies through lectures addressing key research areas from his extensive scholarly work, including Old English and applied linguistics.

    The symposium will take place at Åbo Akademi, Arken building (Tehtaankatu 2, Turku). The event will be conducted in Swedish and English.

    Preliminary Programme:

    10.00–10.05
    Professor Urpo Nikanne, Åbo Akademi University
    Welcome

    10.20–10.30
    Professor Mats Gyllenberg, Finnish Society of Sciences and Letters
    Welcome

    10.30–11.15
    Professor Fred Karlsson
    Den unge Nils Erik Enkvist — med hans egna ord och några av mina

    11.15–11.40
    Coffee

    11.40–12.10
    Professors Jan-Ola Östman & Tuija Virtanen-Ulfhielm
    Nils Erik Enkvist – text linguist and so much more

    12.10–12.40
    Professor Roger Sell
    Nils Erik Enkvist as a Literary Scholar

    12.40–13.40
    Lunch

    13.40–14.10
    Professor Ulla Connor
    Nils Erik Enkvist – his bilateral relationship with America

    14.10–14.40
    Professor Jocelyne Fernandez-Vest
    Nils Erik Enkvist, an inspirational mentor from Stylistics to Impromptu Speech

    14.40–15.10
    Professor Martina Björklund
    What’s in a book? Authors’ dedications and reader’s notes in Nils Erik Enkvist’s Russian books

    15.10–15.40
    Coffee

    15.40–16.10
    Professor Helena Lehečková
    Prague Linguistic Circle: Inspiring and Inspired

    16.10–16.40
    Professor Jef Verschueren
    Texts matter

    16.40–17.10
    Professor Brita Wårvik
    From Style to Discourse: Nils Erik Enkvist and Historical Text Linguistics

    17.10–17.30
    FD Izabela Czerniak, Åbo Akademi University
    Word order parameters – Influence by proxy

    17.30–17.45
    Tuija Virtanen-Ulfhielm & Jan-Ola Östman
    Closing Words