Untying the Mother Tongue

<p><em>Untying the Mother Tongue</em> explores what it might mean today to speak of someone's attachment to a particular primary language. Traditional conceptions of mother tongue are often seen as an expression of the ideology of a European nation-state. Yet current celebrations of multilingualism reflect the recent demands of global capitalism raising other challenges. The contributions from international scholars on literature philosophy and culture analyze and problematize the concept of 'mother tongue' rethinking affective and cognitive attachments to language while deconstructing its metaphysical capitalist and colonialist presuppositions.</p>