I'm not sure I really want to get into that, but it's a possible angle if the discussion goes that way. There's a strong Sapir-Whorf sort of element to the story, in which learning the alien language produces a dramatic change in the way Louise sees the world. I can't really say whether it's plausible, though. I think the basic description of the slow process of establishing communication is really well done, and much better than the Star Trek "universal translator" sort of shtick, or the "aliens who learned English from tv" routine. Language Stuff: There's a lot of detail here about linguistics, which I can't really evaluate. The little details are just perfect, like the way Louise only refers to Gary's second wife as "what's her name." I'll be interested to see how much of this the students pick up, though. I think Chiang does a really good job of depicting the course of these lives and relationships with minimal direct information. It's all in second-person future tense, and covers everything from her conception to her death in a climbing accident at the age of twenty-five. The daughter's story jumps around, but you can get the basic outline. The story of the relationship between Louise and Gary is pretty straightforward from their meeting up until the conception, but their history after that is only hinted at indirectly, though the basic shape is clear. The daughter's story is told only through second-person anecdotes jumping around in time. The daughter's story is told in the second person, through anecdotes related as if being told on the night of her conception.Ĭharacter Stuff: There are three main characters in the story: Louise Banks, the linguist narrator Gary Donnelly, the physicist teamed with her, who she eventually marries and their daughter, who isn't named. The other thread jumps around, telling the story of the narrator's daughter's life through anecdotes at various different ages. There are two main threads to the plot: one covers the story of the narrator's involvement in the attempt to communicate with mysterious aliens.
Structural Stuff: The class I sat in on spent a bit of time discussing the structure of the stories being studied, and the structure here is pretty interesting. This will include MASSIVE SPOILERS, so don't click through unless you've already read the story. Since I have this blog, I figure I might as well post them, and see if anybody has any useful suggestions (beyond "That's way too much for one hour-long class." which I already know).
So that I don't make a complete ass of myself, I'm making some notes about the important features of the story.
My usual mode involves lecturing and equations, so trying to lead a discussion of a literary work will be an unusual experience. It's been fifteen years since I took a literature class, and I've never really taught a discussion class. This will be a different experience for me. My guest spot will be this Friday, and I sat in on a class last week (where they discussed a Zelazny story and one of Bradbury's Martian Chronicles) to get an idea of what the class is usually like. I'm going to be talking about Ted Chiang's "Story of Your Life," whose connection to the hypothetical should be obvious to people who have read it, but is a spoiler for those who haven't. Yesterday's cheery hypothetical came about because I've agreed to do a guest lecture in a Science Fiction class in the English department.
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