Literary Multilingualism and Linguistic Education

Abstract

Starting from some considerations on the relationship between language and literature, the contribution then goes on to describe how the latter, as a mirror of society, has become increasingly multilingual and multicultural over the last two decades, like, precisely, the society it represents (“multilingual turn”). The heteroglottic choices of some well-known writers, many of them even Nobel Prize winners with works published not in their mother tongue, are subsequently illustrated, trying to give a socio- and psycholinguistic and political interpretation. As a consequence, the very role of the native speaker is also strongly questioned. In the penultimate paragraph, the concept of simultaneous literary multilingualism is introduced, to be understood as a literary response to the everyday life of many authors. In conclusion, some reflections are offered on the value and linguistic-educational potential of the multilingual turn of literature.