Even as science fiction authors became more daring





in the 1960s, few found ways of reconciling the leading





experimental tendencies of the day with the demands





of genre fiction. In the world of literary fiction, novelists





were stretching syntax and semantics, engaging in fanciful





wordplay and moving

beyond the time-honored

conventions of narrative

structure. In science fiction,

in contrast, authors were

enlivening their tales with

more expansive plot lines—

embracing sociological and

religious themes and bor-

rowing heavily from current

thinking about mythology

and psychology—yet the

language of their stories still

betrayed sci-fi's pulp fiction

roots. The leading science fiction authors might construct





elaborate spaceships or time machines….but were usually





afraid to tinker with sentence structures.



Except for Samuel R. Delany. Delany had grand ambitions





for science fiction. A prodigy who started writing in his





teens, and had published seven sci-fi novels before the age





of 25, Delany aimed not only to broaden the themes of





genre lit but also its language. Sometimes his prose took





on the fanciful qualities of poetry, at other times he wrote





in a stream-of-consciousness style or even experimented with





the way the words were presented on the page. Not all of





his risk-taking paid off—his most famous novel,

Dhalgren

,





is like

Ulysses

' evil twin—but at his best, Delany was one of





the great visionaries of sci-fi, taking genre fiction to places





it had never been before.





Related Reviews



The Einstein Intersection by Samuel R. Delany



Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany





Nova by Samuel R. Delany









Babel-17

, written around the time of Delany's 23rd birthday,





still stands out as one of the most successful attempts to





mix the language games of modernists and postmodernists





with a taut science fiction plot line. Delany achieves this





by making linguistics a key part of his plot—an unusual





move for any novelist, highbrow or lowbrow, but very





much in keeping with sci-fi's absorption of the human





sciences during this period. As a result, the unconventional





sentences and page layouts that often seem gratuitous in





other Delany books not only fit seamlessly here, but are





even essential to the unfolding story.



Our chief protagonist, Rydra Wong is a poet, skilled linguist





and intergalactic literary celebrity…and, yes, a starship





captain in her spare time. Leading characters in Delany's





stories often come across as extensions of the author, and





like her creator, Wong is obsessed with the way meaning





is conveyed in language. Because of her knack with words,





Wong has been enlisted by the military to assist in breaking





a code called Babel-17. This code has been detected on





radio transmissions that are invariably timed to coincide





with acts of sabotage at various parts of the galaxy.



Wong soon realizes that Babel-17 is not a code, but a





language, and a peculiar one at that. Is it a kind of





communicative music? Is it a more precise logical





framework for concepts? Is it a type of computer language,





but designed for people instead of machines? Is it a





linguistic tool for brainwashing? Or is it simply

an





evolutionary dead-end, destroying those who use it too





much? For once, Delany has a legitimate excuse to





integrate his musings on words and extravagant





phraseology into a sci-fi thriller, and though Chomsky





might not approve of the theoretical orientation of this





tale—which violates his theory of generative grammar at





every turn—Delany both enlightens and entertains. The





result is one of the landmarks of linguistic sci-fi, setting





the foundation for later works such as Stanislaw Lem's





His Master's Voice

, China Miéville's

Embassytown

, Ted





Chiang's

"Understand"

and Don DeLilllo's

Ratner's Star

.



If the idea of linguistic science fiction leaves you





apprehensive, rest assured that Delany successfully





integrates his story of language and translation into a

fast-paced adventure story—not always a given with





this author. In order to unravel the intricacies of





Babel-17, Wong needs to set out in a spaceship, and is





soon

caught up in the ongoing galactic conflict between





the Alliance and the Invaders. Over the course of this

novel, Delany presents the full range of action scenarios,





from hand-to-hand combat to full-scale spaceship

battles. But even in the midst of combat, he finds a way





to employ his experimental techniques. Delany's description





of a terrorist attack at an official dinner is one of the





strangest fight scenes in sci-fi history, with more attention

lavished on the food than fighting. "The fruit platters





were pushed aside by the emerging peacocks, cooked,





dressed and reassembled with sugared heads, tail





feathers swaying....Tureens of caldo verde crowded





the wine basins….Fruit rolled over the edge."

It's as if





the

NY Times

had fired its war correspondents and





replaced them with restaurant reviewers.



The same distinctive Delany-esqe mixture of combat

and unusual language stands out in his big battle scene





—here, for inexplicable reasons, the military commander





relies on psychoanalytical jargon for all his strategizing





and communications to the troops. I found this inspired





bit of doggerel strangely appealing: "Neurotics advance.





Maintain contact to avoid separation anxiety….Let the

criminally insane schiz out….Neurotics proceed with





delusions of grandeur….Stimulate severe depression,

noncommunicative, with repressed hostility….Commence





the first psychotic episode…."



As such passages may suggest, readers need to make





allowances for this author's eccentricities. And there are





many quirks here, as you might expect from a writer





who proclaims

Let the criminally insane schiz out

. Be





forewarned: If you are waiting for Delany to explain





why he makes a soldier talk like Sigmund Freud or





worries more about the food than the fatalities at a





bloody banquet or has put some incongruous bit of





poetry in the middle of his story…you will be waiting





in vain. He forces you to construct with your own





interpretation—if you can.



Almost every one of Delany’s novels could have been





named

Stranger in a Strange Book

. But here the strangeness





works. Even today many doubt that genre conventions





can coexist with literary experimentation.

Babel-17

is a





corrective to that skepticism, an avant-garde space opera





that sets its own terms of engagement and played a key





role in reinventing science fiction during a period of





transition and transgression. A half-century later, the





tables have turned, and highbrow literary authors are





now trying to assimilate aspects of genre fiction. It's to





Delany’s credit that, even in this changed environment,





this brash novel still can serve as a touchstone and role





model.









Publication date: March 31, 2012







Ted Gioia writes on music, literature and popular culture. His

latest book is

Love Songs: The Hidden History