''Native Tongue'' is a
feminist science fiction
Feminist science fiction is a subgenre of science fiction (abbreviated "SF") focused on theories that include feminist themes including but not limited to gender inequality, sexuality, race, economics, reproduction, and environment. Feminist ...
novel by American writer
Suzette Haden Elgin, the first book in her series of the same name. The trilogy is centered in a future
dystopian
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
American society where the
19th Amendment was repealed in 1991 and women have been stripped of civil rights. A group of women, part of a worldwide group of linguists who facilitate human communication with alien races,
create a new language for women as an act of resistance. Elgin created that language,
Láadan
Láadan (/ˈlɑ˦ɑˈdɑn/) is a gynocentric constructed language created by Suzette Haden Elgin in 1982 to test the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, specifically to determine if development of a language aimed at expressing the views of women would s ...
, and instructional materials are available.
Plot summary
''Native Tongue'' follows Nazareth, a talented female linguist in the 22nd century – generations after the repeal of the 19th Amendment. Nazareth is part of a small group of linguists "bred" to become perfect interstellar translators.
Nazareth looks forward to retiring to the Barren House – where women past childbearing age go as they wait to die – but learns that the women of the Barren Houses are creating a language to help them break free of
male dominance.
Reception
Elgin has said about the book:
Adaptations
Until Media acquired the rights to the trilogy and are currently producing a screen adaptation.
See also
*
Nü Shu
Radical 38 or radical woman () meaning "woman" or "female" is one of the 31 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals total) composed of three strokes.
In the ''Kangxi Dictionary'', there are 681 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical.
i ...
, the Chinese system of women's writing
* ''
The Handmaid's Tale
''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood and published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which h ...
'', a
dystopic
A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...
speculative fiction novel by
Margaret Atwood
Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, nin ...
* ''
The Languages of Pao
''The Languages of Pao'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Jack Vance, first published in 1958, based on the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, which asserts that a language's structure and grammar construct the perception and consciousness o ...
'', science fiction novel in which manipulation of language is used to shape a civilization
References
Sources
* Mohr, Dunja M. ''Worlds Apart: Dualism and Transgression in Contemporary Female Dystopias.'' Jefferson, NC, McFarland, 2005.
xtensive chapter on the Native Tongue SeriesInterview With Suzette Haden Elgin @ Womenwriters.net. 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/20120205054437/http://www.womenwriters.net/editorials/hadenelgin.htm
External links
''Native Tongue'' trilogy homepageLáadan language* {{isfdb title, id=1483, title=Native Tongue
(Panglish appears in ''Native Tongue'')
Feminist science fiction novels
American science fiction novels
1984 science fiction novels
1984 American novels
Dystopian novels
DAW Books books
Fiction set in 1991