I Speak, Therefore I Am: How Language Shapes Our Thoughts and Determines the Politics of Society

2020 German Non-Fiction Prize Nominee X Amazon Rating 4.6 Stars X Long-running Bestseller on Germany's Der Spiegel List

"When we absolutize our personal views, we are seeking linguistic dominance over others."
—Robert Habeck, German Vice Chancellor and Author

Language is not just the culture represented by different languages, but also the voice that social roles project.

In this increasingly polarized world, how can we talk to each other, instead of just talking about each other?

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When people are seen as a group, their individual selves become invisible; only when a person speaks can they transform themselves from an object to a subject. In this era of increasingly harsh and hateful discourse, how can all of us interact with each other differently?

Language carries different cultural emotions, constructs people's perception of the world, and at the same time sets limits on the framework and logic of issues, thereby excluding outsiders. Our society is composed of different objects, and standards are increasingly formed. These standards are both labels and frameworks, and those outside the framework lose their voice and become invisible.

"It is experience that shapes a language, and it is language that controls an experience."
—James Baldwin, American Author

The author, Kübra, a fluent polyglot, accurately describes the limitations and power of language by explaining how the homesickness she expresses in Turkish words cannot be fully replicated in German. In addition to exploring the formation of political stances from the perspective of a second-generation immigrant, a polyglot, and a Muslim—i.e., an outsider to the framework—she also extensively cites academic, practical, and everyday experiences to illustrate how people using language to express opinions may have blind spots due to linguistic limitations, or even bias their arguments by ignoring possible differences in words or presuppositions.

With the rise of social media, the positions and meanings carried by words are amplified and change too quickly to be properly examined. Therefore, Kübra attempts to propose a new way of speaking and listening, hoping that people can think in an increasingly polarized world to engage in "true dialogue."