COST: Literary multilingualism, social transformations and superdiverse societies

Since 2026, the Under and Tuglas Literary Institute of the Estonian Academy of Sciences has been a partner in the European Union networking project “Literary multilingualism and social transformations in superdiverse societies” (COST Action CA24137, 2025–2029, acronym MultiLiLiTrans).

The COST Action MultiLiLiTrans is creating an innovative and robust network between academia (literary studies, comparative studies, translation studies, film and theatre studies), practitioners in education and artistic communities with the core aim of mainstreaming multilingualism in all its diverse aspects in European contexts and beyond.

Many structures of European societies (i.e. education, literary, theatre and film scenes) follow a monolingual paradigm which is not reflecting their multilingualism and superdiversity. Through the academic lens of literary multilingualism and broadening its application to characterise societies and understand societal challenges, MultiLiLiTrans aims at filling this gap. Enhancing academic and societal awareness of the importance and impact of multilingualism in our societies equals fostering social, cultural, scientific and economic equality and fairness and prevents marginalization, racism and unequal access to societal infrastructures.

 

Project team member from the Literary Institute:

Marin Jänes, Head of Development – WG1 (Research) and WG5 (Connections).

 

The COST Action impacts the following three fields:

Research: MultiLiLiTrans questions, subverts and transforms outdated notions around national philologies and monolingualism from bottom-up with the aim of modelling innovative and creative structural patterns and of fostering changes which will outlive the Action.

Education: Literary multilingualism has still to become a central part within the field of education. MultiLiLiTrans contributes to making some radical changes to education shaped by monolingual structures.

Literary scene: Through close collaboration with practitioners their needs are identified, and innovative writing and translation practices will be fostered. Additionally, MultiLiLiTrans reflects practices surrounding literary awards, festivals and scholarships leading to the rethinking of current frameworks and the development of alternative models.

Project information on the COST website. Founded in 1971, COST, or European Cooperation in Science and Technology, is Europe’s oldest intergovernmental cooperation in the field. With the support of the Horizon Programme and the member countries, COST helps to bring together researchers and practitioners from many countries and from all fields of research and technology.