Editor’s Note
“Multicompetence” is Rebecca Lorimer Leonard’s idea of how multilingualism impacts cognitive representations, creating a liminal reality in which meaning is negotiated through a multiplicitous lens. Language is a means of constructing realities, of developing particular structures in the search for shared understanding. It is also a means of understanding new realities, of bringing together diverse experiences in contribution to a common vocabulary. Writing, in essence, is a mission, one that pushes the writer to make the personal universal. Multilingualism is one mechanism through which we might retain the personal; to hold our stories close to heart while reflecting on all of the shared history and culture that continually shapes them.
Irrespective of language, writing is a flexible act, one of continuous negotiation. In Issue 7, reflect on multilingualism as a means of memorializing historical legacies in Liam “Lee” Balmeo’s “vietnamese lullabies,” or how language is a means of forming consciousness in Heather Cameron’s “Crane Fly.” Examine the quotidian through the fresh lens of language in Tavares Firmino’s “Novela Ejemplar,” or the ways in which language acts as a bridge between the personal and the universal in Ryan Keating’s “Nur.” Contemplate language as an expression of loss and longing in Ren Koppel Torres’s “Redwing,” or as a memorial in Peter Lilly’s “River Eyes.” Explore language as a lens through which we understand the world in Christopher Phelps’s “Forks and Knots,” or one through which we might understand multiple worlds in Susanna Rich’s “Change.” Weigh the implications of subjectivity in Joel Sedano’s “Lecciones en inglés,” the ways through which we continually build and experience our own realities, and understand, through Cici Zhang’s “Anthropocene,” the sacrifices and reclamations we create with every linguistic decision. Consider how language can act as both bridge and anchor in Tamizh Ponni VP’s “The Scent of Love,” and reflect on what home means to you.
In Issue 7, Pollux presents a selection that reveals how language builds our worlds and the ways in which we experience them. We thank you for your continued engagement with multilingualism and the worlds that language construct and constrict, and it is my pleasure to present you with Issue 7.
Best wishes,
Megan Xing / Editor in Chief