,,Linguistic and Literary Faces of Love in Intercultural Dialogue.”

The conference brought together academic staff of Collegium Polonicum in Słubice, students of the Polish Studies programme at Adam Mickiewicz University, Collegium Polonicum, as well as representatives of the Slavic University in Baku - academic staff and students of the Department of East Slavic Languages, the Department of West Slavic Languages, the Department of World Literature, and the Department of Literary Theory.

The conference had an interdisciplinary character and gathered scholars representing a wide range of linguistic and literary perspectives. At the centre of the discussions was love, understood on multiple levels. The meeting became a space for reflection on how emotions, relationships, and intimacy are expressed in different languages, literatures, and cultural traditions.

The presented papers addressed, among other topics, phraseology related to love and affection in teaching Polish as a foreign language, verbs expressing emotions in Polish and Azerbaijani, emotions and feelings in the phraseology of both languages, as well as affectionate terms in Polish and their translational equivalents in East Slavic languages and Azerbaijani. Attention was also given to love as a way of understanding interpersonal relations and to the development of intercultural competences through art and multimedia.

In the literary section, speakers explored romantic and sentimental love in Polish literature, the presence of love in Crimean Sonnets by Adam Mickiewicz, as well as motifs of love, freedom, politics, and borders in European literature and culture. Papers were also devoted to the works of Azerbaijani poets Imadaddin Nasimi and Ataallah Arran, as well as representations of love in world literature, including Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and The Girlfriend by Marina Tsvetaeva. Reflections on the literary portrayal of forbidden love in wartime Switzerland were also presented.

The first meeting in the series ,,Within the Circle of Intercultural Dialogue” proved to be an excellent opportunity to present research and projects conducted by scholars and students of both universities. It also created a space for the exchange of experiences, mutual inspiration, and the development of academic dialogue between Poland and Azerbaijan.

We would like to extend our sincere thanks to all participants for taking part in the conference, for their engaging presentations, and for the shared discussion on the linguistic, literary, and cultural dimensions of love.