REVIEW: R.F. Kuang’s ‘Babel’ Interrogates Language

This review contains minor spoilers for Babel.

Babel, written by R.F. Kuang, is a historical fantasy epic that delves into revolutions, colonization, linguistics, translation, and an intriguing manifestation of magic. The biblical story of Babel, found in Genesis 11, tells the tale of humanity trying to build a tower to reach the heavens. God intervenes, thwarting them while turning their one language into many and scattering them across the globe. As the title suggests, a primary pillar of Babel is language - specifically translation. Kuang explores how language colors every aspect of life, and how easily it can - and has been - used as a weapon.

Taking place in 1828, Kuang provides an alt-history tale in which Britain has obtained global dominance through the isolation and exploitation of two things: translation and silver-working. Within the pages of Babel, silver-working is a form of magic that imbues silver bars with the means to act upon the world through gaps found in translation. Scholars inscribe words and their translations in other languages to elicit a particular effect. For example, a bar with wúxíng (Chinese for "formless") and invisibility (English) inscribed on it can turn someone holding that bar invisible. Importantly, for the bars to be activated, someone who fluently speaks all of the languages inscribed on the bar has to utter the phrase aloud.

Within the narrative, Babel is a tower in Oxford that houses the Royal Institute of Translation. It's here that students study languages and learn the craft of silver-working. Within Babel lies the beating heart of British power. Through Babel, Britain maintains a stranglehold on vast reserves of silver and weaponizes a monopoly on translation. It's a striking literalization of how impactful language is.

We owe more than we typically realize to language. Language is the reason and method in which you understand this sentence. It shapes the way we see and interact with the world. It structures the way we think. Language is the vehicle for expression between people. If you don't have the words to convey something to another, there simply isn't a way to make them understand. Ludwig Wittgenstein once said, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.", and it's painfully true.

Think about it, if you didn't have language, how would you think? How would you describe anything to yourself, or to others? Language fundamentally changes how you perceive the world. Isn't it fascinating how many examples of "There isn't a word for it in X language" there are? This is an example of how language can significantly alter one's experience. There are descriptions of feelings and events that simply don't have a corollary in a different language. There literally are no words for it.

Now, think about what would happen if a non-benevolent power were in control of language. Babel imagines a history in which Britain has built its empire through language. It subsumes cultures and turns their languages into weapons to be wielded. It plucks their youth, presents them with silver shackles, and turns them against their homes. It justifies its actions through the lens of progress, but it hoards that progress behind capital. It creates an unjust system through which the world runs, and deems anything against that system unjust.

Babel gets into the weeds of linguistics consistently, and it's all the better for it. It routinely educates the reader on the minutiae of how languages operate. It spotlights how Herculean a task translation is. It broaches the ethics of translation, consolidation of power, and institutional education. At its core is a story about whether violent revolution is always necessary for change, but it travels through a Gordian knot of themes to get there.

For all its academic accomplishments, Babel is also a stunning tale of finding belonging, friendship, and yourself. It is packed with elation, heartache, and betrayal. Kuang pulls no punches, delivering on every ounce of promise baked into Babel's premise.

Rating: ★★★★★