Mother Tongue
Summary:
This novel tells the story of a dystopian world ravaged by climate change and the great Melting which followed global warning, altering this world forever. The Ark was created in response to this new world, but with this came the dictator, who wants to control and exploit, and who fears language as the most dangerous weapon of all. With most language removed, one set of ideas can remain comfortably in place. Letta is a wordsmith and one of the Creators, those who have rebelled against the dictator of the Ark, and she is wanted by the authorities. Letta continues to teach language to children in hedge schools, knowing the importance of passing on the mother tongue, but when babies begin to go missing in the Ark, Letta risks her life to save others.
Edited by: Dublin City University
Comment:
Mother Tongues explores Letta’s path of resistance against those in authority, determined to retain the singular narrative that keeps them in power in this society riddled by social and environmental problems and post-environmental collapse. Letta is a strong female character who fights injustice with language, creativity, and art. The sense of injustice Letta feels for children who are being robbed of their language, and then, subjected to much greater dangers, are labelled and dismissed as ‘childish’ by others on numerous occasions. Letta is a brave and powerful female hero, who is still very much human, and who highlights the importance of the words and voices that children and young people have in this new world order.