ENGLISH MOVES - What happens when English travels?

What is it about?

English is often described as the world's global language, yet its movement across cultures, media, and communities is neither neutral nor uniform. As English travels, it carries histories, ideologies, and imaginaries while simultaneously being reshaped by the people and contexts through which it moves. This article proposes (trans)portability as a framework for understanding the mobility of English across linguistic, literary, translational, and cultural domains. Bringing together perspectives from literary studies, linguistics, translation studies, and cultural studies, it argues that English is best understood not as a stable linguistic system but as a dynamic constellation of practices shaped by negotiation, hybridity, power, and resistance. The article also situates the contributions to the special issue it opens within these wider debates, showing how literature, translation, and other cultural forms illuminate the changing meanings and movements of English in the contemporary world. The full special issue can be accessed here: https://benjamins.com/catalog/etc.18.2

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Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

Photo by Viktor Forgacs on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Debates about English often focus either on its global success or on its colonial legacy. This article argues that both perspectives are incomplete unless English is understood as a mobile and contested phenomenon whose meanings emerge through movement, encounter, and adaptation across linguistic and cultural contexts.

Perspectives