Exophony

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE NBCC AWARD IN CRITICISM AND THE GREGG BARRIOS BOOK IN TRANSLATION PRIZEA New Yorker Best Book of 2025I am trying to learn, with my tongue, sounds that are unfamiliar to me. A foreign-sounding word learned out of curiosity is not imitation per se. All of these things I learn leave traces that slowly grow to coexist with my accent. And that balancing act goes on changing indefinitely.How perfect that Yoko Tawada's first essay in English dives deep into her lifelong fascination with the possibilities opened up by cross-hybridizing languages.Tawada famously writes in both Japanese and German, but her interest in language reaches beyond any mere dichotomy. The term exophonic, which she first heard in Senegal, has a special allure for the author: I was already familiar with similar terms, 'immigrant literature,' or 'creole literature,' but 'exophonic' had a much broader meaning, referring to the general experience of existing outside of one's mother tongue. Tawada...

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