Native Tongue

Published in 2000 by The Feminist Press at CUNY, Native Tongue by Suzette Haden Elgin is a landmark work of feminist science fiction that explores language, gender, power, and control within a future society. Originally published in 1984 and later reissued for a new generation of readers, the novel is the first volume in Elgin’s acclaimed “Linguistic Liberation” trilogy. It has since become an essential text in feminist literary studies and speculative fiction, widely recognised for its inventive premise and its exploration of how language shapes social reality.

In Native Tongue, Elgin constructs a future United States where women have lost legal rights and are treated as property in a patriarchal system dominated by male linguists who control interspecies communication and diplomacy. Within this framework, women develop their own hidden linguistic systems, ultimately creating a private language designed to resist oppression and reclaim agency. The novel blends linguistics, sociopolitical critique, and speculative world-building to examine how language can both enforce and dismantle systems of power.

Suzette Haden Elgin’s background as a linguist informs the intellectual depth of Native Tongue, giving the novel a strong theoretical foundation in the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis—the idea that language influences thought and perception. The narrative is both provocative and thought-provoking, raising questions about communication, identity, and resistance. The Feminist Press edition contributed significantly to the novel’s revival, reaffirming its importance in both feminist discourse and science fiction canon.

Today, Native Tongue is regarded as a foundational work in feminist speculative fiction and linguistic science fiction. Its exploration of gendered language systems and resistance through communication continues to resonate strongly with readers, scholars, and writers interested in the intersections of language, power, and social structure.

Condition: Near fine – Minor use and shelf wear.