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INTRODUCTION
code-switching) to 6 types (manifested code-switches), the types of intra- and
intersentential code-switching as well as the concepts of the matrix and em¬
bedded languages proposed by Myers—Scotton’’ were implemented and further
articulated. These numbered code-switching types allow us to scale the mul¬
tilingual qualities of a literary text from latent to explicit manifestations, as
well as from the covert usage of the embedded language (zero code-switching,
ZCS) to the use of a few foreign words (CS1) and some sentences (CS2), up to
a high number of embedded language units in a sentence (CS3) or even various
forms of linguistic hybridity defined hereby as lexico—morphologic (CS4),
phonemic (CS5) or syntactic (CS6) translingualisms. In all of these types not
only grammatical elements interfere, but also the graphemic aspect can have
crucial relevance. Moreover, code-switching strategies of an artistic narrative
are always influenced by the wide-scale opening up between the current lin¬
guistic norms and the freedom of artistic experimentation of a certain period
in acertain area. This cultural codification touches not only the manifestation
of multilingualism in the fictional world but also its narration, its interme¬
dial fusion, the accompanying paratexts and, not least, how we speak (or not)
about multilingualism in our nonfictional communication.
This volume explores code-switching strategies used by contemporary artists
to compose their multilingual narratives, and also moves beyond the linguistic
level in the direction of multimodality. This move proved to be reasonable because
the research done by a few authors of this book revealed that verbal code-switch¬
ing is often activated in artistic media other than printed literature as a conse¬
quence of multimediality. In those cases, the semantic component of the verbal
expression is infused with visual (e.g. in painting, visual poetry or film narratives),
acoustic (e.g. in music), or kinetic (e.g. theater) aspects, which have not been dis¬
cussed earlier. Thus, the topics addressed in this book include elaborations on the
determining factors of artistic language choices, of ways that multilingual artists
implement their own experiences and language realities and repertoires in their
works, of overt or covert strategies languages of the fictional worlds manifest in
the piece of art, of the reasons behind multilingual narrations of multilingual sto¬
ries, and also of the interaction between multimodal ways of artistic expression.
Further investigated questions of the articles include: How does code-switching
manifest in literature, on stage and in films? What are the differences and the
similarities? How can translation and/or dubbing/subtitles cope with multilingual
stories? What kind of language policies functions behind the production and re¬
ception of a multilingual work? How do language practices of different communi¬
cation levels, nonfictional and fictional alike, influence each other? How do read¬
ers and viewers manage multilingual narratives and multimodal discourses?
1% Carol Myers-Scotton: Social Motivation for Code-Switching: Evidence from Africa, Oxford,
Clarendon Press, 1993.
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