Hospitable Linguistics: Alternative, Indigenous and Critical Approaches to Language Research and Language Encounters edited by Nicholas G. Faraclas, Anna Storch, and Viveka Velupillai (A Book Review)

As the author of this review argues, Hospitable Linguistics represents a radical epistemological and methodological reimagining of language research, foregrounding relational, affective, and decolonial approaches in place of traditional structuralist and extractivist paradigms. The volume reconceptualizes language not as a system to be decoded but as a site of encounter, care, and epistemic risk. Central to its ethos is the notion of “hospitability,” which the editors reframe beyond the Derridean paradox into a lived ethics of recognition, vulnerability, and co-presence—especially in contexts marked by colonial violence and epistemic erasure. Through contributions ranging from Indigenous language revitalization and Afro-Caribbean verbal gesture to sonic border-crossings, knitting as a form of storytelling, and refusal as a mode of speech, the collection expands the field’s boundaries both conceptually and methodologically. The volume prioritizes co-authorship, embodied listening, and non-verbal semiotics as acts of linguistic sovereignty, challenging institutional norms and calling for reparative and relational modes of scholarship. Eschewing synthesis in favor of polyphonic resonance, the book enacts the very hospitality it theorizes. As such, it is not merely a compendium of alternative methods but a manifesto for transforming the ethical foundations of linguistics. This analysis evaluates the volume’s structure, key innovations, and intellectual stakes, proposing that Hospitable Linguistics is indispensable for scholars committed to decolonial, plural, and justice-oriented research in language and culture.