These two books are different in tone, approach, and disciplinary perspective. But both broach a topic that has been the center of considerable debate among sociolinguists: the role of English in countries where it is not a native language. While neither author taps the existing scholarship on what is often referred to as global English or English as a lingua franca, both books can be viewed as contributing meaningful interventions.
The Fall of Language in the Age of English is a translation of Minae Mizumura's 2008 book, written in Japanese. Her original audience was her co-nationals engaged in a national debate on the role of English in the aftermath of Japan's lost decade. Mizumura, a novelist who “writes in her own language” (see chapter 1), approaches her first nonfiction work as a literary critic. The Japanese version of the book won the Kobayashi Hideo Award, affirming her impact as a...
