Rewriting Language: How Literary Texts Can Promote Inclusive Language Use

Extensively studied and heavily debated, inclusive language is a hot topic. Despite decades of research and scholarship, findings on its importance slip into neglect. How do we convince speakers of the importance of inclusive language? Christiane Luck’s Rewriting Language provides one possible answer: read fiction.

By engaging readers with the issue, novels spread awareness and promote linguistic change. Novels have the power to paint the problems presented with accessibility and spark change. Analyzing five iconic literary texts, including Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness, Verena Stefan’s Hautungen, Marge Piercy’s Woman on the Edge of Time, and June Arnold’s The Cook and the Carpenter, Luck dives into the possibilities and challenges of linguistic neutrality. Rewriting Language illustrates the link between language and imagination. As Luck concludes, novels are valuable tools to embolden inclusive language use.