Babel-17 (Masterplots II: African American Literature Series)
At a glance:
- Author: Samuel R. Delany
- First Published: 1966
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Science fiction
- Time of Work: The distant future
- Setting: The Earth and outer space
- Principal Characters: Rydra Wong, General Forester, Dr. Markus T’mwarba, Danil D. Appleby, Brass, Calli, Ron, Mollya Twa, Slug, Eye, Baron Felix Ver Dorco, Jebel, “The Butcher”
- Genres: Long fiction
- Subjects: Language or languages
- Locales: Alliance, planets of the (fictive)
The Novel
Babel-17 is the story of the poet Rydra Wong and her successful attempt at decoding Babel-17, the secret language used by the Invaders in their continuing aggression against the Earth-based Alliance. Though divided into five parts, the novel consists primarily of three episodes that take place in increasingly remote sections of Alliance territory. The first episode begins in a conventional Earth setting but quickly “defamiliarizes” the reader with the description of the working-class Transport quarters and the ultimate dead-end of the Discorporate sector....
[The entire page is 2728 words long]
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