How do we read and write from linguistic crossroads? What would a multilingual critical theory look like? What geographies do we build from the vantage point of multilingualism? In this course we read multilingual literary works and put them in conversation with texts pertaining to different branches of critical theory.

Multilingual writing cuts through linguistic borders and forces us to mistrust the idea of language as a stable and complete system. It invites us to question monolingualism as a basis for different categorizations––for the delimitation of literary fields, as well as personal and collective identities. Multilingualism sheds light on different possible combinations of roots and allegiances, historically conditioned and linked to the current sociopolitical contexts. In other words, in this course we study multilingualism as a dynamic and polyphonic form through which literature creatively conjugates different experiences of ethnicity, race, class, gender, and sexuality. Throughout the course, our theoretical readings help us conceptualize the transformations that multilingual texts puts in motion in our understanding of self and community.