Writing Against Borders: Multilingualism and Resistance in Li Kotomi’s Higanbana ga saku shima (The Island Where the Spider Lilies Bloom)

Abstract This article examines how Li Kotomi’s novel Higanbana ga saku shima (2021) intertwines its multilingual narrative form with central themes such as migration, belonging, cultural identity, gender roles, and social hierarchies. Focusing on Li’s radical linguistic experimentation, the analysis situates her work in relation to ekkyō bungaku (border-crossing literature) and queer literature. Set in a speculative future, the novel contrasts a dystopian, xenophobic, and isolationist Japan that seeks to purge all foreign influences with an island community shaped by cultural hybridity, linguistic creolisation, and alternative forms of living. While violent histories of exclusion are initially repeated on the island, it gradually transforms into a space of coexistence and hope. The article argues that Li’s multilingual strategies serve as a narrative tool to question rigid social structures and envision the possibility of renewal through openness and diversity. Ultimately, Higanbana ga saku shima challenges conventional notions of Japanese language, literature, and identity, offering a vision of belonging that resists clear-cut borders and fixed categories.