Metrolingual art: Multilingualism and heteroglossia

Abstract

Metrolingualism can be defined as the contemporary practice of creative uses, or mixing, of different linguistic codes in predominantly urban contexts, transcending established social, cultural, political and historical boundaries, identities and ideologies (Otsuiji & Pennycook, 2010). The present paper examines how this term can be applied to theorizing instances of contemporary text art that combine two or more languages, or that transform known linguistic codes into ‘fake’ or fantasy ones. The paper extends the scope of metrolingualism beyond multilingualism and includes a multimodal dimension, the mixing of genres, styles, accents, texts’ materiality, as well as their emplacement and pragmatic relevance. Finally, the paper suggests a reframing of metrolingualism as a manifestation of heteroglossia. International multimedia and performance artists whose work is analysed include Laurie Anderson, Xu Bing, Wenda Gu, Song Dong, Zhang Peili and Claire Fontaine.

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