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Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
2022 novel by R. F. Kuang
Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution is a 2022 novel of speculative fiction by R. F. Kuang set in a fantastical version of Oxford in 1830s England (the story concludes in 1840). Thematically similar to The Poppy War (2018–20), Kuang's first book series, the book criticizes British imperialism, racism and capitalism, and the complicity of academia, knowledge, and language in perpetuating and enabling them. Babel is set in an alternative reality in which Britain's global economic and colonial supremacy are fueled by the use of magical silver bars. Their power comes from capturing what is "lost in translation" between words in different languages that have similar, but not identical, meanings. To harness this power, Oxford University created the Royal Institute of Translation, nicknamed "Babel", where scholars work to find match-pairs. The plot focuses on four new students at the institute, their growing awareness that their academic...
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