Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue

Yoko Tawada

Book cover for Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue
Book cover for Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue

Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue

Exophony: Voyages Outside the Mother Tongue

Yoko Tawada

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Description

I 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 revels in explorations of cross-cultural and intra-language possibilities (and along the way deals several nice sharp raps to the primacy of English). The accent here, as in her fiction, is the art of drawing closer to the world through defamiliarization. Never entertaining a received thought, Tawada seeks the still-to-be-discovered truths, as well as what might possibly be invented entirely whole cloth. Exophony opens a new vista into Yoko Tawada's world, and delivers more of her signature erudite wit--at once cross-grained and generous, laser-focused and multidimensional, slyly ironic and warmly companionable.

Critical Reviews

A polyglot's travelogue, steeped in the joys and peculiarities of exploring a foreign language.-- "Kirkus Reviews"

Tawada explores the fertile ground of intermingled languages in this scintillating essay collection. Playful and erudite, these essays offer valuable insights into Tawada's own writing and her readings of classic world literature.-- "Publishers Weekly"

The beauty of Tawada's work is that she treats the uncertain footing of the second language learner--and of the native speaker looking back on their first language with new eyes--not as a source of anxiety, but as a source of boundless creative potential.--Reed McConnell "The Baffler"

Tawada's strange, exquisite book toys with ideas of language, identity, and what it means to own someone else's story or one's own.-- "The New Yorker"

Magnificently strange. Tawada is reminiscent of Nikolai Gogol, for whom the natural situation for a ghost story was a minor government employee saving up to buy a fancy coat, the natural destiny of a nose to haunt its owner as an overbearing nobleman.--Rivka Galchen "The New York Times Magazine"

National Book Award-winning Tawada's enigmatic essay collection--her first in English translation--arrives meticulously enabled by Hofmann-Kuroda, who impressively renders Tawada's inventive linguistic acrobatics. For audiences familiar with Tawada's recent novels, Exophony is an ideal complement, illuminating, exploring, and experiencing 'the space between languages...the poetic ravine between them.'--Terry Hong "Booklist"

Publishing Information

Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation
Pub date: 2025-06-03
Length: 192 pages

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