Critical Polyglot Studies

This book offers a self-reflective, critical approach to the study of what is popularly known as polyglossia, charting the gradual but marked process of its commoditization over the last 20 years and offering a counterpoint to mainstream positivist treatment of serial language learning.

First, from a diagnostic standpoint, the book examines the rise and consolidation of the Polyglot Community in the sociopolitical and economic context of its gradual transformation into and partial overlap with the Polyglot Industry and its ideological tenets (the Polyglot Matrix). Second, from a prognostic standpoint, the book posits Critical Polyglot Studies (CPS) as a much-needed counter to the many theoretical and practical shortcomings of the Polyglot Industry-cum-Matrix, presenting the main programmatic points and illustrative best practices and institutional case studies of this alternative paradigm. CPS is conceived as both a research orientation and as a strategic attempt to elicit debate and draw in a wider range of polyglossia scholars, offering readers with actionable tools to contribute to this emerging academic and activist endeavor.

Constituting the first critical and systematic analysis of polyglossia as a globalized phenomenon, this book will be of interest to scholars of linguistics, cultural studies, critical theory, and sociology.

Carlos Yebra López is an Assistant Professor of Spanish Linguistics at California State University, Fullerton. He is also founder of The Hyperpolyglot Activist and Ladino 21 Community Interest Company, and the Director of Research at The International Association of Hyperpolyglots (HYPIA).

Usman W. Chohan is an international academic who serves as Advisor on Economic Affairs and National Development at the Centre for Aerospace & Security Studies (CASS), one of Pakistan’s premier research-based think tanks, where he was a founding director. He is also the founder and serves as President of the International Association of Hyperpolyglots (HYPIA), the largest association of hyperpolyglot language speakers in the world.