The Journal of Literary Multilingualism explores texts written in non-native languages, in a mix of languages and alternating languages. It examines a wide range of literary practices from around the globe broadly defined by multilingual and multicultural situations.
The phenomenon of literary multilingualism is as old as literature itself but has received more scholarly attention as migration and globalization have increased in recent years. As the first international journal devoted entirely to this emerging interdisciplinary field, it offers a forum for cutting-edge research across the humanities and social sciences.
We welcome contributions that examine multilingual authors, texts, readers, and contexts, as well as cultural phenomena (e.g. translation and reception) and societal issues (e.g. migration and language politics), as they relate to literary texts and multilingual processes in all historical periods. In addition to scholarly articles, the journal publishes creative work by multilingual writers.
Editor-in-Chief
Natasha Lvovich, City University of New York, Kingsborough Community College, NY, USA
Book Review Editor
Sandra Vlasta, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Editorial Board
Moradewun Adejunmobi, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Mary Besemeres, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Till Dembeck, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Eva Gentes, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Rainer Guldin, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Julie Hansen, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Steven G. Kellman, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA
Deven Patel, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Larry Rosenwald, Wellesley College, MA, USA
Marlon James Sales, University of Michigan, MI, USA
Paul Starkey, Durham University, Durham, UK
Juliette Taylor-Batty, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds, UK
Stijn Vervaet, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Sergio Waisman, George Washington University, DC, USA
Adrian Wanner, Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA
Hana Wirth-Nesher, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Advisory Board
Yasemin Yildiz, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Online submission: Articles for publication in the Journal of Literary Multilingualism can be submitted online through Editorial Manager. To submit an article, click here.
For more details on online submission, please visit our EM Support page.
If you have any questions, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Natasha Lvovich.
Book reviews and review essays are commissioned by the editors, but suggestions are welcome. Instructions to prepare your book review or review essay are included in the Author Instructions. Unsolicited books from publishers are not welcome.
The journal welcomes proposals and ideas for shorter, more informal contributions within the regular section ‘Forum: Reflections and Debates in Literary Multilingualism Studies’. If you would like to propose an entry or to respond to the previous forum, please contact the forum editors Juliette Taylor-Batty (j.taylor-batty@leedstrinity.ac.uk) and Till Dembeck (till.dembeck@uni.lu).
Call for Papers - Special Issue - 2/2025:
Swiss Literary Multilingualism: A Challenge to the Monolingual Paradigm
Switzerland represents a unique linguistic situation. On the one hand, the Swiss constitution enshrines four national languages (German, Italian, French, and Romansh), and multilingualism marks daily life for many people. On the other, however, it is entirely possible to exist in a monolingual milieu and have little real or sustained contact with another of the Swiss languages.
This volume seeks to explore multilingual practices and the tensions these reveal as manifest in Swiss literary writing. It aims to explore the rich presence of multilingualism in Swiss writing, and to focus on the dynamic multilingual exchanges that occur in Swiss literature. We are interested in writing that incorporates one or more of the Swiss national languages (or their dialects), as well as writing by Swiss authors in other languages, and writing by migrants to Switzerland that engages with multilingualism.
Contributions might include but are not restricted to the following questions:
• To what extent can Swiss literature be understood as existing beyond the ‘monolingual paradigm’ (Yildiz 2012)?
• How do Swiss authors and authors writing in Switzerland engage with multilingual literary practices (including, but not limited to, bi- and multilingual writing, self-translation, heteroglossia etc.)?
• Is Swiss multilingualism a myth? How can the specifically Swiss situation of literary multilingualism be understood?
• How have understandings of monolingualism and multilingualism shaped the development of “Swiss” literature?
• What new perspectives on Swiss writing are revealed by an exploration of multilingual practices?
• How do authors engage with the ‘larger’ linguistic and literary zones beyond Switzerland’s borders?
• How do migration, globalization and postcolonial contexts inform the work of migrant writers, who negotiate the relationship between the languages of their home country and the Swiss languages?
Informal queries are welcome, and contributors are asked to submit an abstract by April 1, 2024. Please direct queries to Rainer Guldin, Università della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) and Richard McClelland, University of Bristol (United Kingdom).
Articles should be 6,000 to 10,000 words in length, and the deadline for their submission is October 1st, 2024. Acceptance of the final versions of articles is subject to double-anonymous peer review. Please send articles as email attachments to Rainer Guldin (guldin.rainer@bluewin.ch) and Richard McClelland (richard.mcclelland@bristol.ac.uk).
Call for Proposals special issue 2/2024:
Australia’s Multilingual Literary Landscape
The ‘global turn’ in literary studies has destabilised the relationship among literature, language and nation, questioning the notion that a national literature is necessarily written in a national language.
This special volume explores the multilingual literary landscape of one specific nation. It aims to showcase the variety of languages in which Australian literature is written. Since Australia’s multicultural heritage is also a multilingual heritage, this volume aims to discover, disseminate and promote new understandings of the breadth of literature in this predominantly – but far from exclusively – Anglophone country.
We welcome analyses of Australian literature that is written in languages other than in English and analyses of literature that incorporates another language into a predominantly English text. Contributions might include but are not restricted to the following questions and topics:
How do writers represent multicultural Australia in languages other than English? How do writers weave another language or other languages into predominantly Anglophone writing?
How do Indigenous authors represent their linguistic heritage in their writing?
How do migrant writers negotiate the relationship between English and the language(s) of their home country?
How do authors represent the weight, primacy or dominance of the English language within their multilingual writing?
How do authors position themselves as writers of “Australian literature” through the prism of a language other than English?
Informal queries are welcome, and contributors are asked to submit an abstract by April 1, 2023. Please direct queries to Christopher Hogarth (University of South Australia).
Articles should be 6,000 to 10,000 words in length, and the deadline for their submission is October 1, 2023. Acceptance of the final versions of articles is subject to double-anonymous peer review. Please send articles as email attachments to Christopher Hogarth at Christopher.hogarth@unisa.edu.au.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Every issue of the Journal of Literary Multilingualism contains a forum devoted to ongoing debates regarding literary multilingualism studies. Forum contributions are shorter, more accessible pieces of around 1000-2000 words that continue to reflect on the state of the field and on recent research in literary multilingualism. Contributions may take a range of forms, such as position papers, dialogues between scholars, roundtable discussions, responses to articles within the Journal of Literary Multilingualism, and responses to recent multilingualism conferences or events. We are also open to other possible formats. We particularly welcome perspectives on marginalised or neglected aspects of literary multilingualism, critiques of the field, and reflections on its future.
"The Journal of Literary Multilingualism is a global, interdisciplinary forum for the study of texts and other cultural phenomena created in a non-native language or a mix of languages." - Steven G. Kellman
"Multilingualism is the norm not the exception, and in order to understand literature today, we need to break out of the monolingual bias of literary studies. Journal of Literary Multilingualism is an important contribution to an exciting and growing field of studies." - Juliette Taylor-Batty
"As literary scholars, we can no longer take monolingualism for granted; rather, recent scholarship tells us that neither authors nor texts can, in many respects, avoid dealing with issues of linguistic diversity, and the question is not if, but how they do this. The Journal of Literary Multilingualism gives a forum to scholars who ask this important question." - Till Dembeck
"Literary Multilingualism used to seem like a highly specialized field. But over time we have realized how crucial it is for anyone thinking about language, literature, nationality, culture, identity. The category is so vast and essential we need a journal to help explore it." - Larry Rosenwald
"In a world where language contact is more frequent and easier than ever, the use of multilingual paradigms to understand relationships between language and literature is gaining strength. Scholars and critics are paying more attention to the production, transmission, and reception of multilingual literatures and non-native language authorships. By providing a dedicated platform for critical dialogues on language crossings and diversity in literature, the Journal of Literary Multilingualism is a timely response to this exciting development in literary studies." - Elaine Wong
Scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in comparative literature, linguistics, postcolonial studies, translation studies, education, psychology, and transnational studies. The journal will examine literatures in a wide variety of languages, ancient and modern, by specialists from every continent.
Dr. Natasha Lvovich is a scholar of literary multilingualism and of multilingual creativity. She divides her loyalties between academic and creative writing: among her publications is a book of autobiographical narratives, The Multilingual Self, followed by more than a dozen of creative nonfiction pieces and interdisciplinary essays. She has written on multilingual creativity of Marc Chagall, Nicolas Roerich, and Leonora Carrington. For the last decade, Lvovich has been leading the scholarly community of literary translingualism organizing panels and seminars at international conferences, guest editing academic journals, and lecturing on the topic internationally. She also co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Literary Translingualism with Steven Kellman.
Online submission: Articles for publication in the Journal of Literary Multilingualism can be submitted online through Editorial Manager. To submit an article, click here.
For more details on online submission, please visit our EM Support page.
If you have any questions, please contact the Editor-in-Chief, Natasha Lvovich.
Book reviews and review essays are commissioned by the editors, but suggestions are welcome. Instructions to prepare your book review or review essay are included in the Author Instructions. Unsolicited books from publishers are not welcome.
The journal welcomes proposals and ideas for shorter, more informal contributions within the regular section ‘Forum: Reflections and Debates in Literary Multilingualism Studies’. If you would like to propose an entry or to respond to the previous forum, please contact the forum editors Juliette Taylor-Batty (j.taylor-batty@leedstrinity.ac.uk) and Till Dembeck (till.dembeck@uni.lu).
Editor-in-Chief
Natasha Lvovich, City University of New York, Kingsborough Community College, NY, USA
Book Review Editor
Sandra Vlasta, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy
Editorial Board
Moradewun Adejunmobi, University of California, Davis, CA, USA
Mary Besemeres, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Till Dembeck, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Eva Gentes, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, Germany
Rainer Guldin, Università della Svizzera Italiana, Lugano, Switzerland
Julie Hansen, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
Steven G. Kellman, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, USA
Deven Patel, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
Larry Rosenwald, Wellesley College, MA, USA
Marlon James Sales, University of Michigan, MI, USA
Paul Starkey, Durham University, Durham, UK
Juliette Taylor-Batty, Leeds Trinity University, Leeds, UK
Stijn Vervaet, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
Sergio Waisman, George Washington University, DC, USA
Adrian Wanner, Pennsylvania State University, PA, USA
Hana Wirth-Nesher, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Advisory Board
Yasemin Yildiz, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Call for Papers - Special Issue - 2/2025:
Swiss Literary Multilingualism: A Challenge to the Monolingual Paradigm
Switzerland represents a unique linguistic situation. On the one hand, the Swiss constitution enshrines four national languages (German, Italian, French, and Romansh), and multilingualism marks daily life for many people. On the other, however, it is entirely possible to exist in a monolingual milieu and have little real or sustained contact with another of the Swiss languages.
This volume seeks to explore multilingual practices and the tensions these reveal as manifest in Swiss literary writing. It aims to explore the rich presence of multilingualism in Swiss writing, and to focus on the dynamic multilingual exchanges that occur in Swiss literature. We are interested in writing that incorporates one or more of the Swiss national languages (or their dialects), as well as writing by Swiss authors in other languages, and writing by migrants to Switzerland that engages with multilingualism.
Contributions might include but are not restricted to the following questions:
• To what extent can Swiss literature be understood as existing beyond the ‘monolingual paradigm’ (Yildiz 2012)?
• How do Swiss authors and authors writing in Switzerland engage with multilingual literary practices (including, but not limited to, bi- and multilingual writing, self-translation, heteroglossia etc.)?
• Is Swiss multilingualism a myth? How can the specifically Swiss situation of literary multilingualism be understood?
• How have understandings of monolingualism and multilingualism shaped the development of “Swiss” literature?
• What new perspectives on Swiss writing are revealed by an exploration of multilingual practices?
• How do authors engage with the ‘larger’ linguistic and literary zones beyond Switzerland’s borders?
• How do migration, globalization and postcolonial contexts inform the work of migrant writers, who negotiate the relationship between the languages of their home country and the Swiss languages?
Informal queries are welcome, and contributors are asked to submit an abstract by April 1, 2024. Please direct queries to Rainer Guldin, Università della Svizzera Italiana (Lugano, Switzerland) and Richard McClelland, University of Bristol (United Kingdom).
Articles should be 6,000 to 10,000 words in length, and the deadline for their submission is October 1st, 2024. Acceptance of the final versions of articles is subject to double-anonymous peer review. Please send articles as email attachments to Rainer Guldin (guldin.rainer@bluewin.ch) and Richard McClelland (richard.mcclelland@bristol.ac.uk).
Call for Proposals special issue 2/2024:
Australia’s Multilingual Literary Landscape
The ‘global turn’ in literary studies has destabilised the relationship among literature, language and nation, questioning the notion that a national literature is necessarily written in a national language.
This special volume explores the multilingual literary landscape of one specific nation. It aims to showcase the variety of languages in which Australian literature is written. Since Australia’s multicultural heritage is also a multilingual heritage, this volume aims to discover, disseminate and promote new understandings of the breadth of literature in this predominantly – but far from exclusively – Anglophone country.
We welcome analyses of Australian literature that is written in languages other than in English and analyses of literature that incorporates another language into a predominantly English text. Contributions might include but are not restricted to the following questions and topics:
How do writers represent multicultural Australia in languages other than English? How do writers weave another language or other languages into predominantly Anglophone writing?
How do Indigenous authors represent their linguistic heritage in their writing?
How do migrant writers negotiate the relationship between English and the language(s) of their home country?
How do authors represent the weight, primacy or dominance of the English language within their multilingual writing?
How do authors position themselves as writers of “Australian literature” through the prism of a language other than English?
Informal queries are welcome, and contributors are asked to submit an abstract by April 1, 2023. Please direct queries to Christopher Hogarth (University of South Australia).
Articles should be 6,000 to 10,000 words in length, and the deadline for their submission is October 1, 2023. Acceptance of the final versions of articles is subject to double-anonymous peer review. Please send articles as email attachments to Christopher Hogarth at Christopher.hogarth@unisa.edu.au.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Every issue of the Journal of Literary Multilingualism contains a forum devoted to ongoing debates regarding literary multilingualism studies. Forum contributions are shorter, more accessible pieces of around 1000-2000 words that continue to reflect on the state of the field and on recent research in literary multilingualism. Contributions may take a range of forms, such as position papers, dialogues between scholars, roundtable discussions, responses to articles within the Journal of Literary Multilingualism, and responses to recent multilingualism conferences or events. We are also open to other possible formats. We particularly welcome perspectives on marginalised or neglected aspects of literary multilingualism, critiques of the field, and reflections on its future.
"The Journal of Literary Multilingualism is a global, interdisciplinary forum for the study of texts and other cultural phenomena created in a non-native language or a mix of languages." - Steven G. Kellman
"Multilingualism is the norm not the exception, and in order to understand literature today, we need to break out of the monolingual bias of literary studies. Journal of Literary Multilingualism is an important contribution to an exciting and growing field of studies." - Juliette Taylor-Batty
"As literary scholars, we can no longer take monolingualism for granted; rather, recent scholarship tells us that neither authors nor texts can, in many respects, avoid dealing with issues of linguistic diversity, and the question is not if, but how they do this. The Journal of Literary Multilingualism gives a forum to scholars who ask this important question." - Till Dembeck
"Literary Multilingualism used to seem like a highly specialized field. But over time we have realized how crucial it is for anyone thinking about language, literature, nationality, culture, identity. The category is so vast and essential we need a journal to help explore it." - Larry Rosenwald
"In a world where language contact is more frequent and easier than ever, the use of multilingual paradigms to understand relationships between language and literature is gaining strength. Scholars and critics are paying more attention to the production, transmission, and reception of multilingual literatures and non-native language authorships. By providing a dedicated platform for critical dialogues on language crossings and diversity in literature, the Journal of Literary Multilingualism is a timely response to this exciting development in literary studies." - Elaine Wong
Scholars, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in comparative literature, linguistics, postcolonial studies, translation studies, education, psychology, and transnational studies. The journal will examine literatures in a wide variety of languages, ancient and modern, by specialists from every continent.
Dr. Natasha Lvovich is a scholar of literary multilingualism and of multilingual creativity. She divides her loyalties between academic and creative writing: among her publications is a book of autobiographical narratives, The Multilingual Self, followed by more than a dozen of creative nonfiction pieces and interdisciplinary essays. She has written on multilingual creativity of Marc Chagall, Nicolas Roerich, and Leonora Carrington. For the last decade, Lvovich has been leading the scholarly community of literary translingualism organizing panels and seminars at international conferences, guest editing academic journals, and lecturing on the topic internationally. She also co-edited the Routledge Handbook of Literary Translingualism with Steven Kellman.
The Journal of Literary Multilingualism explores texts written in non-native languages, in a mix of languages and alternating languages. It examines a wide range of literary practices from around the globe broadly defined by multilingual and multicultural situations.
The phenomenon of literary multilingualism is as old as literature itself but has received more scholarly attention as migration and globalization have increased in recent years. As the first international journal devoted entirely to this emerging interdisciplinary field, it offers a forum for cutting-edge research across the humanities and social sciences.
We welcome contributions that examine multilingual authors, texts, readers, and contexts, as well as cultural phenomena (e.g. translation and reception) and societal issues (e.g. migration and language politics), as they relate to literary texts and multilingual processes in all historical periods. In addition to scholarly articles, the journal publishes creative work by multilingual writers.
Publisher:
Brill
Online
ISSN:
2667-324X
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Online only
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Please contact sales in order to purchase any of the above.