Tupamahu, Ekaputra. Contesting Languages: Heteroglossia and the Politics of Language in the Early Church. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2023.

In his book Contesting Languages: Heteroglossia and the Politics of Language in the Early Church, Ekaputra Tupamahu investigates the role of language in the early Christian community in Corinth. Tupamahu argues that the city of Corinth was a multilingual city, and that this multilingualism had a significant impact on the way that the Corinthians understood and practiced their faith.

Tupamahu begins by challenging the traditional interpretation of speaking in tongues as an ecstatic, unintelligible phenomenon. He argues that this interpretation is an invention of German romantic-nationalist scholarship, and that it is not supported by the text of 1 Corinthians. Instead, Tupamahu draws on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theories of language to argue that speaking in tongues is a heteroglossic phenomenon, meaning that it is a way of speaking that incorporates multiple languages and voices.

Tupamahu then goes on to argue that the Corinthians’ use of tongues was a site of political struggle. He argues that the centripetal force of monolingualism, which attempts to force heterogeneous languages into a singular linguistic form, was at work in the early church. This force was used by the dominant group to control and subordinate minoritized languages. However, Tupamahu argues that the Corinthians’ use of tongues unleashed a centrifugal force that challenged the dominant group’s control over language.

Tupamahu’s book offers a new perspective on the role of language in the early church. He argues that the Corinthians’ use of tongues was a way of resisting the dominant group’s control over language. This resistance opened a space for the Corinthians to imagine a new socio-linguistic vision, one that was marked by unending difference.

Tupamahu’s book is a valuable contribution to the study of language and religion. It provides a new perspective on the role of language in the early church, and it challenges the traditional interpretation of speaking in tongues. Tupamahu’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in the intersection of language, religion, and power.