Exploring Multilingualism

Linguistic diversity is a fact of human life – as is the imbalance in status between languages.

In the current context of globalisation, this imbalance is manifesting itself most strikingly in the rise of ‘global’ English as the universally recognised lingua franca, and the pressure this in turn puts on other less globally ‘useful’ languages.

The features in this section will present findings from our evolving research on the interaction between multilingualism and creativity, but also address aspects of the context in which our research is taking place. From the difficulties and opportunities of Modern Languages in schools to insights into the impact Brexit will have on languages and their status in the UK, we will be looking at social and political issues to better understand how we can make linguistic diversity more visible, valued, and vibrant.

Mappa Mundi Mother Tongue at LinguaMania

A mixed-age group of children from Pegasus Theatre – ranging from 7 years to teenagers – rushed into the atrium of the Ashmolean, pushing past the hordes of people who had just been listening to some vibrant jazzy music.

Why translation matters

Strolling past a Paris café recently I was amused by a disarming mistranslation on their menu – ‘Velouté de potimarron du chef’ rendered not as ‘The chef’s cream of pumpkin soup’, but instead by the somewhat bizarre ‘Softness of pumpkin of the leader’. There is always room for approximate translations in the world, and nobody will ever suffer any significant consequences from this particular error, even if the dish is unlikely to find much favour with foreign customers.

LinguaMania on social media

On 27 January 2017, Creative Multilingualism took over the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for LinguaMania, an evening of multilingual experiments, performances, and fun with languages. It marked the launch of the four-year Creative Multilingualism research programme, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), which aims to work out how linguistic diversity and the interplay between languages contribute to human creativity.

Creative Multilingualism Conference 2017

On 28 January 2017, we held our first Creative Multilingualism Conference at the Taylor Institution Library in Oxford. People from across the UK travelled to Oxford to listen to talks, performance and panel discussions on the theme of Languages and Creativity.

The conference addressed many topics including Multilingualism post Brexit, Writing between Languages, Multilingual Metaphor, and Sense and Nonsense across Languages. There was also a performance by RTKAL followed by a panel discussion with the artist.

Raw and impassioned: writing multilingual poetry in an Oxford school

Shortly before the students of Oxford Spires Academy in East Oxford broke up for their Christmas holidays, the renowned Iraqi poet, Adnan al-Sayegh, paid them a visit. As part of Strand 6 (Prismatic Translation) of the ongoing Creative Multilingualism research project, two groups of students were given poetry workshops by al-Sayegh, who left Iraq in 1993, following a regime crackdown on artistic dissent and who now lives in the UK.

Ovid's Metamorphoses at LinguaMania

On 27 January 2017, Creative Multilingualism is taking over the Ashmolean after hours to host LinguaMania, an evening full of interactive activities, multilingual music, and language taster sessions. One of the activities taking place is a retelling of Ovid’s Metamorphoses performed by comedy group The Dead Secrets. Read on to find out more…

Iraqi poet encourages Oxford Spires students to nurture their poetic creativity

Students at Oxford Spires Academy were recently encouraged to express themselves through the medium of poetry in different languages by award-winning Iraqi poet, Adnan Al-Sayegh. Mr Al-Sayegh, who has lived in exile since 1996 and been based in the UK since 2004, led the first poetry writing workshop at Oxford Spires Academy.

Harry Potter and the Rosetta Stone

On 27 January 2017, Creative Multilingualism will be taking over the Ashmolean Museum for LinguaMania, an evening of multilingual experiments, performances, and fun with languages. One of these events will be ‘Harry Potter and the Rosetta Stone’.

Introducing LinguaMania: an evening of multilingual merriment

On 27 January 2017, Creative Multilingualism will be taking over the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for LinguaMania, an evening of multilingual experiments, performances, and fun with languages. It will mark the launch of our four-year research programme designed to work out how linguistic diversity and the interplay between languages contribute to human creativity.

Can you speak only English but still be multilingual?

Can you be a monoglot and multilingual? It’s likely that for most people the answer would be a resounding, “no!”. But could that be placing unnecessary limits on our understanding of language?

Creative Multilingualism introductory lunch

In October, we were pleased to be able to host a lunch to introduce the Creative Multilingualism research programme to our friends and colleagues in Oxford. Over 100 people turned up to hear Professor Katrin Kohl, Principal Investigator, explain more about our ambitious programme to transform Modern Languages research in the UK.

In the news: Interview with That's Oxfordshire

The Creative Multilingualism programme will be working with a variety of partners to reach our objectives of making Modern Languages more visible, valued and vibrant. One of these partners is Oxford Spires Academy, a multi-cultural and multilingual school in East Oxford which is a centre of excellence for Creative Writing.