Introduction

Summary

The Introduction sets the scene by reflecting back on an essay from 2003 in which Mary Louise Pratt, during her Presidency of the Modern Language Association, called for a “New Public Idea about Language.” Though an occasional essay, prompted by “today’s dramatic circumstances” (p. 112), the wisdom of Pratt’s simple proposals has held up sturdily over the ensuing two decades. Little about her depiction of a “linguistically unequipped” country has been revealed inaccurate. The endless War on Terror years, complicated by Trump and Brexit, have only deepened the importance of her, and kindred, interventions since the turn of the millennium. But, like the 2007 MLA Report “Foreign Languages and Higher Education: New Structures for a Changed World,” Pratt’s 2003 essay was an intervention in a particular, now historical, moment. Twenty years is ample time to warrant new clarity and purpose around such a “new public idea” about multilingualism.