My favorite stories about... language

the human desire to be understood

How do you expect to communicate with the ocean, when you can’t even understand one another? - Solaris, by Stanislaw Lem.

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Welcome to the second entry in my “stories about…” series. Last time I talked about stories that center storytelling, and today I’m going to compile a list of media that focuses on language and communication. These books, shows and movies are all about the human desire to be understood and the challenges that come with it, but each of them has a different approach to these topics. I hope you can find something in this list that catches your attention!

Without further ado, let’s begin.

The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin.

The Earthling Genly Ai is sent as an envoy to the distant planet of Gethen, with the hope of convincing the inhabitants of this cold and harsh planet to join the Ekumen, an interplanetary confederation. Unfortunately, Genly struggles with his task due to the biological and cultural differences between Earth and Gethen. There’s a thick barrier between Genly and the people of Gethen, and the tricky nature of language proves to be one of his biggest obstacles in understanding the people he interacts with, specially Estraven, Genly’s sole ally in this frozen land.

This is one of Le Guin’s most famous novels, for good reason. Besides being an important piece of queer literature due to its exploration of gender as a social construct and the fluid nature of sexuality, the novel also focuses on how hard it is to reach an understanding between people from vastly different backgrounds. Genly’s inability to trust Estraven, and Estraven’s difficulty in making his feelings clear to Genly, are both the result of their upbringing and the way in which they are used to communicating with others. The limitations of language are a major theme of the novel, and Le Guin does a great job expressing the struggle of putting words to our feelings.

Arrival.

Louise Banks, a renowned linguist, is recruited by the US Army to find a way to communicate with the extraterrestrial beings that have suddenly arrived on Earth. The aliens’ language is unlike anything she’s seen, and deciphering it is not only going to determine the fate of the world, but also change Louise in ways she could never imagine.

Another science-fiction story (and certainly not the last on this list), this movie deals with the way in which language shapes our relationship with the world. As someone with a basic knowledge of linguistic theory, I think this movie nicely illustrates some of the problems that arise when approaching a new language and the kind of nuances that a linguist has to take into consideration that lay people aren’t aware of. The science is believable enough without being too dense, and it ties nicely into the themes of the movie.

A Sign of Affection.

The show follows Yuki, a deaf girl who has recently started college. After a chance encounter on the train, Yuki falls in love with Itsuomi, a guy who enjoys learning new languages and traveling around the world.

On a more lighthearted note, this show is a cute and wholesome romance that centers communication and language learning. From what I’ve seen, the show does a good job when it comes to representing deaf people, and I think it’s nice to see the effort that learning a new language takes.