# Snake words in Estonia: Language, nature and extinction in Andrus Kivirähk’s The Man Who Spoke Snakish

## TL;DR

This paper analyzes a novel about a vanishing language and culture in medieval Estonia, highlighting themes of colonization, biodiversity loss, and cultural extinction.

## Contribution

The paper offers a new literary perspective on biocultural diversity and language extinction through the lens of a fictional narrative.

## Key findings

- The novel reflects real-world experiences of cultural and linguistic loss due to colonization and assimilation.
- Snakish represents a harmonious relationship between language, nature, and non-human animals.
- The story critiques anthropocentrism and ecological destruction by colonizing societies.

## Abstract

This article discusses Estonian author Andrus Kivirähk’s novel The Man Who Spoke Snakish in the context of language extinction and biocultural diversity. The novel is set in Medieval Estonia, but the viewpoint of the protagonist as a speaker of a vanishing language from a vanishing culture resonates with the lived experience of millions of people who have lost lifeways and livelihoods to colonisation and cultural assimilation. The fictitious language of Snakish allows its speakers to integrate fully into the natural world and to form complex interdependent relationships with non-human animals. This web of nature, culture and language is destroyed by a colonising society that is anthropocentric, ecologically destructive and socially hierarchical, and which views nature as something to exploit or fear. The novel explores the emotions of grief and loss for both a culture and an ecosystem heading for extinction.