Poland has a strong tradition of research in cognitive linguistics; particularly in Lodz (the second biggest city in Poland) we have organized a series of well-attended conferences focusing on the main areas in the field. In 2003 the University of Lodz awarded an Honorary Doctorate to Ronald Langacker.

The aim of the present conference is discussing the recent developments in Cognitive Poetics and Cognitive Rhetoric. Broadly speaking, Cognitive Poetics (also called Cognitive Stylistics) applies the insights from cognitive linguistics to the analysis of texts. Both the theoreticians and the practitioners of Cognitive Poetics point out its importance for literary studies, where it can become an effective analytical tool; but we firmly believe that it can also give direction to the study of non-literary texts, especially those in which language has been used in some creative way (as in advertising, linguistic humour, etc.), as well as the study of visual images or music.