Writing without Borders – serie

This book asks what it takes for people to encounter one another ethically when practices, worldviews and imaginations clash. It engages over 40 contributors across geographies, disciplines, art forms and practices in a conversation that touches on topics ranging from the climate catastrophe to the disintegration of the welfare state and the erasure of certain bodies from public spaces. It is concerned with how these ‘big’ questions play out in ‘small’ everyday encounters in classrooms, rehearsal rooms, arts projects, charity events or city markets. The book’s polyphonic text does not present answers to its central questions in the way a typical research publication might do. Instead, it creates a flow and invites the reader to join a conversation. By refusing to deliver an argument, the book opens new possibilities for relating to others in the academy and arts.This book is open access under a CC BY ND licence.

This book asks what it takes for people to encounter one another ethically when practices, worldviews and imaginations clash. It engages over 40 contributors across geographies, disciplines, art forms and practices in a conversation that touches on topics ranging from the climate catastrophe to the disintegration of the welfare state and the erasure of certain bodies from public spaces. It is concerned with how these ‘big’ questions play out in ‘small’ everyday encounters in classrooms, rehearsal rooms, arts projects, charity events or city markets. The book’s polyphonic text does not present answers to its central questions in the way a typical research publication might do. Instead, it creates a flow and invites the reader to join a conversation. By refusing to deliver an argument, the book opens new possibilities for relating to others in the academy and arts.This book is open access under a CC BY ND licence.

What if my own multilingualism is simply that of one who is fluent in way too many colonial languages?If we are going to do this, if we are going to decolonise multilingualism, let’s do it as an attempt at a way of doing it. If we are going to do this, let’s cite with an eye to decolonising. If we are going to do this then let’s improvise and devise. This is how we might learn the arts of decolonising.If we are going to do this then we need different companions.If we are going to do this we will need artists and poetic activists.If we are going to do this, let’s do it in a way which is as local as it is global; which affirms the granulations of the way peoples name their worlds.Finally, if we are going to do this, let’s do it multilingually.

What if my own multilingualism is simply that of one who is fluent in way too many colonial languages?If we are going to do this, if we are going to decolonise multilingualism, let’s do it as an attempt at a way of doing it. If we are going to do this, let’s cite with an eye to decolonising. If we are going to do this then let’s improvise and devise. This is how we might learn the arts of decolonising.If we are going to do this then we need different companions.If we are going to do this we will need artists and poetic activists.If we are going to do this, let’s do it in a way which is as local as it is global; which affirms the granulations of the way peoples name their worlds.Finally, if we are going to do this, let’s do it multilingually.

This ground-breaking book assembles 31 portraits of people who interpret languages, cultures and situations, and offers graphic interpretations of their collective experience. Their individual stories are part of the larger history of interpreters, interpretation and interpretive readings, and they demonstrate how language intersects with race, class, gender and geopolitical inequalities. The book allows the unexpected to unfold by passing control from the writers to the reader, who will see connections and ruptures unfold between space, time and class while never losing sight of the materiality of living. Together and individually, the portraits tell a powerful story about the structure of contemporary society and the hierarchical distributions of power that permeate our lives.

Somewhere between our survival instinct and the persuasions of luxury and excess is a notion that ‘more people means less’ – less space, food, time or learning capacity. What happens when the proverb ‘kuwanda huuya’ dares us to consider that ‘more people does not mean less’? It means we learn abun-dance, the choreography of conviviality…imagine a relaxed atmosphere outdoors, night-time. storyteller wears a t-shirt saying 'i want to fill this town with artists', and is gently playing an ancient instrument. academic, dressed in a shirt and tie, is frowning as he fiddles with a gadget (phone or laptop). poet arrives. storyteller immediately stops playing and puts the guitar down, standing up. he urgently ushers poet to a seat, then addresses them both with a curious sparkle they recognise:‘What happens when learning from the Global South and the Global North breathe the same air?’‘What happens when that air carries the intercultural vibrations of an acoustic music played, spoken, or sung?’‘What happens when that music-filled air flow into and through spaces of formal learning?’This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.

This book invites readers to reflect on the impact of languages and create workshops to develop inclusive and responsible societies.Language plays a crucial role in the creation and reproduction of social inequalities, but it can also be a key factor in their deconstruction and in the creation of a more multilingual and inclusive world. This book guides the reader through an exploration of creative and effective tools for examining the role that languages play in the life trajectories of speakers and how they can shape personal identities and promote social justice. The authors demonstrate the use of personal language family trees, language self-portraits and autobiographical narratives as means to explore sociolinguistic repertoires and language use in various contexts.Written in an accessible, jargon-free way, with real-life examples from speakers of diverse geographical backgrounds, the book will be of interest both to scholars and students embarking on a study of the intersections between language and social justice, and to language teachers and learners who wish to explore the role that languages play in their lives.This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.

This book invites readers to reflect on the impact of languages and create workshops to develop inclusive and responsible societies.Language plays a crucial role in the creation and reproduction of social inequalities, but it can also be a key factor in their deconstruction and in the creation of a more multilingual and inclusive world. This book guides the reader through an exploration of creative and effective tools for examining the role that languages play in the life trajectories of speakers and how they can shape personal identities and promote social justice. The authors demonstrate the use of personal language family trees, language self-portraits and autobiographical narratives as means to explore sociolinguistic repertoires and language use in various contexts.Written in an accessible, jargon-free way, with real-life examples from speakers of diverse geographical backgrounds, the book will be of interest both to scholars and students embarking on a study of the intersections between language and social justice, and to language teachers and learners who wish to explore the role that languages play in their lives.This book is open access under a CC BY NC ND licence.