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Loading... Scattered All Over the Earth: Yoko Tawada (edition 2022)by Yōko Tawada (Author), Margaret Mitsutani (Translator), Margaret Mitsutani (Translator) annarchism | Aug 4, 2024 |   My favourite aspect of the novel was the exploration of language and how it mediates experience. One character moves to Europe and is constantly assumed to be of Japanese background, when actually he came from Greenland. He reflects that learning a new language is like gaining 'an extra identity', which he considers fun and exciting. Another character experiences more of a loss from moving to Europe from Japan and no longer having anyone to speak Japanese with. She invents a 'homemade' language called Panska, which can be understood by anyone who speaks a Scandinavian language, and takes a job essentially translating mythology across cultures. The playful use of fusion food as a cultural signifier is interesting too, such as 'meditation pizza'. As with [b:The Last Children of Tokyo|37800111|The Last Children of Tokyo|Yōko Tawada|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543850172l/37800111._SY75_.jpg|56779160], I found [b:Scattered All Over the Earth|58470813|Scattered All Over the Earth|Yōko Tawada|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1628279933l/58470813._SY75_.jpg|76590310] thought-provoking but would struggle to articulate what it added up to. It seems to be introducing characters and themes to set up events that never happen, then ends entirely arbitrarily. Indeed, I think it feels incomplete. I could have sworn I read somewhere that there will be a sequel, so perhaps this is intentional. The blurb describes it as 'a synaesthetic love song to language and liminality', which gives a fair indication of what to expect. (  ) annarchism | Aug 4, 2024 |  ) archangelsbooks | Jul 9, 2024 |  )1  saimaus | Nov 1, 2023 | A really interesting read, several characters interlocking their lives in a world where Japan has mysteriously vanished – in fact, never existed, though there are plenty of Japanese people. Lots of challenging stuff about languages and the Japanese experience of Europe. Especially liked that some of the action is set in the German city of Trer. (  ) nwhyte | Jul 13, 2023 | Hiruko has created her own language, called Panska, which enables her to communicate with northern Europeans. The characters form an interesting, quirky bunch. It is a book about language, communications, and linguistics. It explores the concepts of homelands and migrations, and how these may change in the future. Even though it is dystopian, it has a certain charm, portraying how people try to do the best they can in less-than-ideal circumstances. The ending is open and full of irony. I read the English translation by Margaret Mitsutani. I look forward to reading more of Tawada’s catalogue. ( ) Castlelass | Oct 30, 2022 | This book is meant to be the first of a trilogy, and this story does not feel complete, though it comes to a fair stopping point. As they move, the climate refugees and others (students, etc) are faced with learning new languages. Much of this story is about communication. How people communicate, different languages, the struggles to learn a new language. And language gives us our ploy--Knut (Danish linguist) introduces himself to Hiroko (climate refugee) because he is so interested in her made-up Panska (pan-Scandinavian) language. She tell him how she wants to speak her native language (Japanese) again, but knows no one else who speaks it. They head to an Umami Conference in Germany where Tenzo, a sushi chef if going to be a presenter. Their travels continue as they meet more people and further look for another native speaker of Japanese. This book is a little bit madcap travel story, a little bit serious climate fiction, and a lot about language and how people so identify with a language and "native speaker" status. ( ) Dreesie | Sep 22, 2022 | I really liked it - the concept, the execution. As a big fan of linguistics and sci-fi, this looked like a great book and I really liked it. Quite a lot of concepts were thrown in, including the use of words, identities and how people refer to others, archetypes, loss and some good surprises. The world seems like a near future sci-fi but it's actually more like a parallel universe, where climate change has impacted the world even more than now. Hiruko, one of the main character is a climate refugee from Japan - Japan is mentioned in so many different ways, yet never mentioned even once, apart from the French word, Japon, as a sound and not a word, in one scene. Which, to me, screams Oulipo. (And after that I researched some papers about the author and the Oulipo (basically a group of artists writing with constraints) and found quite a few references.) As Hiruko tries to find traces of her native language, she has also created a pan-Scandinavian language to communicate with people, and soon a stream of people follow her on her quest for varied reasons, including a love for linguistics, love for someone else, etc. A lot of the events I found were quite heavy, but the author really tried to portray them neutrally, which isn't always working as she decided to write about them in the first place, and it can be a bit dissonant at time, probably because of my own expectations. Overall I really enjoyed this book and would pick the next one. I want to thank NetGalley and Granta Publications for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review. ( ) OpheliaAutumn | May 15, 2022 |  ) kewing | Apr 28, 2022 | |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)895.6Literature Other literatures Literatures of East and Southeast Asia JapaneseLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (3.65)
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My favourite aspect of the novel was the exploration of language and how it mediates experience. One character moves to Europe and is constantly assumed to be of Japanese background, when actually he came from Greenland. He reflects that learning a new language is like gaining 'an extra identity', which he considers fun and exciting. Another character experiences more of a loss from moving to Europe from Japan and no longer having anyone to speak Japanese with. She invents a 'homemade' language called Panska, which can be understood by anyone who speaks a Scandinavian language, and takes a job essentially translating mythology across cultures. The playful use of fusion food as a cultural signifier is interesting too, such as 'meditation pizza'.
As with [b:The Last Children of Tokyo|37800111|The Last Children of Tokyo|Yōko Tawada|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1543850172l/37800111._SY75_.jpg|56779160], I found [b:Scattered All Over the Earth|58470813|Scattered All Over the Earth|Yōko Tawada|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1628279933l/58470813._SY75_.jpg|76590310] thought-provoking but would struggle to articulate what it added up to. It seems to be introducing characters and themes to set up events that never happen, then ends entirely arbitrarily. Indeed, I think it feels incomplete. I could have sworn I read somewhere that there will be a sequel, so perhaps this is intentional. The blurb describes it as 'a synaesthetic love song to language and liminality', which gives a fair indication of what to expect. (