Description
LIVING BETWEEN LANGUAGES
Book Summary
An intimate and erudite journey through the experience of inhabiting multiple languages. Sylvia Molloy interweaves personal memories with reflections on multilingualism, exploring how each language shapes affections, spaces, and ways of being. From her bilingual childhood to her adult life lived between Spanish, English, and French, the author unravels the essential questions for those who live between languages: which one do you dream in, which one do you love in, and which one do you recognize yourself in?
What is it about?
A woman traverses memories and anecdotes of her life while reflecting on language and multilingualism. Stories about figures such as Jules Supervielle, Guillermo Hudson, George Steiner, and Elias Canetti are interspersed with episodes from her childhood, which was permeated by different languages. As a very small child, she spoke Spanish with her mother, English with her father, and a mix of both with her sister. Later came French, as a recovery of the language her mother had inherited and lost. Each language occupied distinct spaces and was tinged with diverse affectivities. The narrator asks herself why she speaks of her bilingualism from within a single language, why she has chosen to do so in Spanish, in which language a bilingual person wakes up, and in which language they exist. One is always bilingual from the perspective of one language—the one in which one first settles, the one in which one recognizes oneself.
Main Themes
- Multilingualism as a vital and affective experience
- The relationship between mother tongue and personal identity
- Memory and childhood as linguistic territories
- The coexistence and conflict between languages in daily life
- Literary figures and their bond with linguistic exile
Who is it recommended for?
For readers interested in non-fiction literature, autobiographical essays, and reflections on language. Especially recommended for those who have lived between two or more languages, as well as students and professionals of linguistics, comparative literature, and cultural studies. Also for anyone curious about how languages shape our way of thinking and feeling.
What this book offers
- An intimate and personal look at the experience of being bilingual or multilingual
- Deep reflections on linguistic identity and the affectivity of each language
- A journey through literary figures who also lived between languages
- Polished and erudite prose that combines memoir and essay
- Keys to understanding how languages configure our relationship with the world
Technical Specifications
- Author: Molloy, Sylvia
- Publisher: Eterna Cadencia Editora SRL, CUIT
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: Literary essays, Modern and contemporary fiction
- Collection: Novel
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication Date: March 2023
- Number of pages: 80
- Weight: 197 g
Editorial Review
A brief but densely meaningful book that manages to build bridges between personal experience and theoretical reflection on language. Sylvia Molloy offers a work that will especially resonate with those who have experienced migration or linguistic uprooting, but also with any reader interested in how words construct our identity. Her intimate tone and discreet erudition make "Living Between Languages" a valuable read within the contemporary autobiographical essay.