Multea Talk: Experimenting with Multilingualism in Contemporary Japanese Literature

12/01/202612/01/2026 LangueFlowMultea

Welcome to a Multea Talk with Professor for Japanese Studies Ina Hein, Department of East Asian Studies, Universität Wien: Experimenting with Multilingualism in Contemporary Japanese literature: Hoshi Tsuki Yoru‘StarsMoonNight’ by Taiwan-born Japanese Author Li Kotomi.

The event will take place online on Friday 20 March 2026 at

10–12 CET (Wien, Roma, Stockholm)
18–20 JST (Tokyo)
5–7 am EDT (New York)

Please sign up for the Zoom link before 18 March 2026 at zerocodeswitching // at // pm.me.

Border-crossing literature

Since the 1990s, a distinctive body of contemporary Japanese literature has emerged, written in Japanese by non-native speakers who have migrated to Japan and adopted Japanese as a second language. These authors challenge nationalist notions of Japanese literature by demonstrating that non-native speakers can produce sophisticated literary texts in Japanese.

Often centred on themes of migration, identity and language, these authors introduce new topics and global perspectives to the Japanese literary world while simultaneously navigating the pressure to conform to native-language standards. Many authors of this so-called border-crossing literature (ekkyō bungaku 越境文学) therefore strive for “flawless” Japanese, often avoiding overt linguistic experimentation in order to gain literary legitimacy.

Li Kotomi

Taiwan-born author Li Kotomi 李琴峰 constitutes a notable exception. Her fiction is characterized by deliberate and sometimes radical linguistic experimentation. In her speculative novel Higanbana no saku shima (彼岸花が咲く島 ‘An Island Where Spider Lilies Bloom’, 2021), she constructs three distinct variants of Japanese, each associated with specific speaker groups and ideological functions, including a “purified” form stripped of Chinese influences and a creolized language combining Japanese, Chinese and Ryukyuan elements.

This presentation focuses on Li’s novel Hoshi Tsuki Yoru (星月夜 ‘StarsMoonNight’, 2020), set in a contemporary, realist context. Multilingualism and linguistic experimentation are clearly present here as well. Alternating between the perspectives of a Taiwanese teacher of Japanese living in Tokyo and her Uyghur student, the novel incorporates multiple languages, including Japanese, Chinese (in both Taiwanese and PRC variants) and Uyghur.

Multilingualism and linguistic diversity

Central thematic concerns include language learning and linguistic inadequacy, teaching and explaining language, pronunciation and phonetics, translation and textual revision. Alongside these linguistic issues, the novel explores multiple other topics, such as interpersonal relationships, reasons for migration and experiences of discrimination in Japan.

This Multea Talk will examine in depth the novel’s central themes, explore the ways in which multilingualism is employed, consider the functions and effects of linguistic diversity within the text, and demonstrate how Li Kotomi intricately intertwines form and content. Ultimately, her literary choices and strategies will be situated within the broader context of contemporary Japanese border-crossing literature.