Recently, we watched a quite interesting sci-fi movie titled “Arrival”, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. This film raises a very appealing topic for the translation and communications sector. A translator and language professor is summoned by the U.S. Army to help decoding the language of visitors from another planet that have unexpectedly appeared across different locations of planet Earth, so as to establish a secure communication allowing the human race to understand who they are, where they come from, and what is their purpose in our planet.
What did we like about this movie?
Well, so many things. Firstly, there is an initial antagonism between the two main characters, Louise (translator and linguist) and Ian (physician). For Louise language represents the cornerstone of every civilization, while Ian thinks is science. This engaging clash of perspectives ends up resolved over the course of the movie, when during the search for a method enabling humans to communicate with aliens, Ian realizes that communication is a science in itself as it requires a methodical and thorough analysis that takes into consideration each phase of the linguistic process to understand its origins and outcomes. This is the approach ultimately used by Louise to get to understand aliens’ language, and finally allows both of them to comprehend their linguistic code and to engage in communication with them.
Another aspect of the film that is worth noting is the novel approach of the role of the translator or interpreter over this encounter between two civilizations. This is the first time that we ponder (or at least when it comes to movies) how would we handle the communication conundrum between the human race and extraterrestrials. However, the role historically played by translators during the conquest and colonization process within our own planet is well known, as it was the case for instance during the encounter between Europeans and the American natives during America’s discovery events. During this process, the incorporation of some Europeans (with linguistic skills or not) into the daily lives of native Americans was key to get to understand their culture and language and then to serve as interpreters between the natives and Europeans. Many natives also served as language intermediaries between their tribes and the European conquerors.
The interpreter as the movie’s hero… Really??
Lastly, it is really interesting to watch a movie where the translator or interpreter is the hero of the plot, who literally manages to save the world through her work. We are not here in the presence of an action hero, but her accomplishment is not less a major stunt.
Ultimately, the whole point of the movie is that Louise’s work finally gets to overcome the barriers between two civilizations that have completely different ways to communicate; after a thorough analysis of the linguistic code of aliens, Louise discovers a comparable pattern to human language (in this case, English) and finds the true purpose of extraterrestrials. Her work manages to get rid of any misunderstandings and fears caused on human race by the visiting aliens, and saves the planet from an unnecessary war conflict with another civilization.
The power of communication plays an undeniable role in social interaction. Particularly, the movie “Arrival” addresses the fact that translation ultimately serves as a resource to bring down language barriers in this communication process to help pursue a harmonious understanding and successful encounter between 2 different cultures. Now it’s easy to imagine real-life translators – not sci-fi characters – overcoming these communications barriers beyond the stars in a not-so-distant future.
ARRIVAL
Recently, we watched a quite interesting sci-fi movie titled “Arrival”, directed by Denis Villeneuve and starring Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner and Forest Whitaker. This film raises a very appealing topic for the translation and communications sector. A translator and language professor is summoned by the U.S. Army to help decoding the language of visitors from another planet that have unexpectedly appeared across different locations of planet Earth, so as to establish a secure communication allowing the human race to understand who they are, where they come from, and what is their purpose in our planet.
What did we like about this movie?
Well, so many things. Firstly, there is an initial antagonism between the two main characters, Louise (translator and linguist) and Ian (physician). For Louise language represents the cornerstone of every civilization, while Ian thinks is science. This engaging clash of perspectives ends up resolved over the course of the movie, when during the search for a method enabling humans to communicate with aliens, Ian realizes that communication is a science in itself as it requires a methodical and thorough analysis that takes into consideration each phase of the linguistic process to understand its origins and outcomes. This is the approach ultimately used by Louise to get to understand aliens’ language, and finally allows both of them to comprehend their linguistic code and to engage in communication with them.
Another aspect of the film that is worth noting is the novel approach of the role of the translator or interpreter over this encounter between two civilizations. This is the first time that we ponder (or at least when it comes to movies) how would we handle the communication conundrum between the human race and extraterrestrials. However, the role historically played by translators during the conquest and colonization process within our own planet is well known, as it was the case for instance during the encounter between Europeans and the American natives during America’s discovery events. During this process, the incorporation of some Europeans (with linguistic skills or not) into the daily lives of native Americans was key to get to understand their culture and language and then to serve as interpreters between the natives and Europeans. Many natives also served as language intermediaries between their tribes and the European conquerors.
The interpreter as the movie’s hero… Really??
Lastly, it is really interesting to watch a movie where the translator or interpreter is the hero of the plot, who literally manages to save the world through her work. We are not here in the presence of an action hero, but her accomplishment is not less a major stunt.
Ultimately, the whole point of the movie is that Louise’s work finally gets to overcome the barriers between two civilizations that have completely different ways to communicate; after a thorough analysis of the linguistic code of aliens, Louise discovers a comparable pattern to human language (in this case, English) and finds the true purpose of extraterrestrials. Her work manages to get rid of any misunderstandings and fears caused on human race by the visiting aliens, and saves the planet from an unnecessary war conflict with another civilization.
The power of communication plays an undeniable role in social interaction. Particularly, the movie “Arrival” addresses the fact that translation ultimately serves as a resource to bring down language barriers in this communication process to help pursue a harmonious understanding and successful encounter between 2 different cultures. Now it’s easy to imagine real-life translators – not sci-fi characters – overcoming these communications barriers beyond the stars in a not-so-distant future.
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