The Lure of Translingual Writing

Translingual writing is all the rage among scholars and teachers of writing studies in the united states. The last decade has seen a plethora of publications on this topic, many of which have received prestigious awards, and conferences have highlighted translingual writing and related topics. It seems that translingual writing has established itself as an intellectual movement. The attention to language in United States writing studies—a field that has traditionally found ways to dissociate itself from language—is a welcome change. At the same time, I am uneasy about the term translingual writing because, as the enthusiasm for this new and evolving intellectual endeavor continues to grow, the notion of translingual writing seems to be uncritically accepted and celebrated.