Aug 4, 2025

Book Publishing »Tongue Touching the Other / Dil Ötekine Değince« by Solitude Alumna Bilge Emir

Warm congratulations to Bilge Emir (Solitude fellow 2025 in the Digital sphere of practice) who has published her book Tongue Touching the Other / Dil Ötekine Değince!

Tongue Touching the Other / Dil Ötekine Değince explores the experience of settling in a new country – or how similar dynamics can unfold even without leaving one’s own – through four interrelated themes: becoming a foreigner in a foreign land, occupying the fragile position of a guest, undergoing assimilation through education, and finally, producing or being subjected to representation. This path is examined through our relationship with language.

Through language the book aims to follow a common, transnational history and how modern national identities affected our knowledge of that history and sense of belonging. However, as much as commons, the discourses of alienation and discrimination, work the same way in every language, even though they target primarily the ones who speak another language.

Based on conversations with 18 individuals from 9 different countries, from Morocco to Pakistan, this work centers around themes of othering, migration, education, and popular culture. These interviews were woven together into a visual and experimental montage, combining current events, cinema, and media references into a multi-layered narrative.

The book has been published in Turkish and English and can be ordered through Bilge Emir‘s website.

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