Babel, or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators Revolution is a clever journey into an imaginary history. It is exciting, thoughtful, and entertaining. Rebecca Kuang is obviously a very clever woman. Although only 27 she already holds degrees from Georgetown University (BA), Cambridge University (MPhil), Oxford University (MSc), and is now at Yale University where she is studying for a PhD.
As well as following these academic courses at prestigious universities she has also managed to produce five published novels. The first of these, The Poppy War, was published when she was just eighteen. It is an historical fantasy novel based in China in the period of the Second Sino-Japanese War. This novel was nominated for the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2019.
The Poppy War was just the start. There followed two other books (The Dragon Republic and The Burning God) to form the Poppy War trilogy. These were all produced by 2020, when Kuang was twenty-four. All three books received good reviews and clearly and were include in Time Magazine’s The 100 Best Fantasy Books of All Time.
Kuang’s fourth novel, Babel, or the Necessity of Violence, reflects the time she spent studying in the UK. It is based in Oxford, though not contemporary Oxford. It is an Oxford of the 1830s and, like Kuang’s previous novels, it is an Oxford which, although reflecting elements of the history of the time, has a magical element. It is a fantasy, though based on a very real history.
In the 1830s Britain’s world-wide economic and colonial domination is supreme. It is fuelled by the use of magical silver bars which are used to provide strength to the whole imperial enterprise. The ships sailing around the world have silver bars fitted within them, as do the weapons the British use. The industrial revolution at home is fuelled by silver. In fact, the source of Britian’s dominance is this silver.
However, the silver has to be inscribed with ‘match-pairs’ of words. The power comes from what is lost in languages between words that have a similar, but not identical, meaning. This is where the Royal Institute of Translation, nicknamed ‘Babel’, comes in. It is where scholars use their skills in languages to find match-pairs.
Robin Swift is rescued from his home in Canton where his family have died of disease. He is rescued by Professor Lovell of the Institute who, you discover, is Robin’s father. He is taken to England and educated to a level where he can gain a place at Babel.
He joins a small group of other first year students in the Institute of Translation who have also been rescued, with one exception, from their colonial backgrounds because of their particular skills at learning and understanding languages.
There then follows a story worthy, and quite reminiscent, of Harry Potter. A group of students begin to understand the secrets of the world in which they live and find themselves drawn into conflict with it. Robin and his friends are sent on a mission to China where they discover the true nature of British imperialism and its determination to succeed whatever the cost to other countries and people.
British colonialism is a constant reference throughout the book and, although this is a fantasy, the commentary on Britain’s imperial ambitions is significant and the story makes some interesting historical and political points.
The frequent explanations relating to ‘match-pairs’ of words is also fascinating and, given R F Kuang’s successful, if brief, academic background, must be based on a real description of these words and how they are used in different societies and cultures.
The history and politics and the linguistics alone make this a very readable book. There are moments when it is worthwhile sitting and reflecting on historical points which, although set in the middle of a fantasy, carry a resonance which makes them worthy of further thought.
R F Kuang manages to create the exciting essence of a Harry Potter thriller and uses magical realism to create a book in which truth and reality make some significant points about, not only history, but the societies which it created
