Can nonhumans speak?

Languaging and worlds in posthumanist applied linguistics

Abstract

This paper mobilises posthumanism as a way to theorise and articulate what language(s)/languaging may be for nonhuman animals. This is investigated via various concepts brought together: we turn to the ontological turn in anthropology to expand on what language is, or might be, amongst humans, and then discuss Umwelt and languaging as two possible modes of exploring ontologies and biosemiosis among nonhumans. The dialogue between posthumanism and biosemiosis is so far absent in the field of critical language studies. The aim, thus, is to contribute to the nascent field of posthumanist applied linguistics by tentatively linking discrete fields of enquiry for a productive exchange across disciplines, and to further the discussion of how nonhuman language is (or may be) ontologised.