The marginality of linguistics in sci-fi: a critique from the story of heptapods in the works of Chiang and Villeneuve

Abstract

Inspired by Ted Chiang's novel Story of Your Life (1999) and its cinematographic counterpart, Denis Villeneuve's Arrival (2016) (scripted by Eric Heisserer under the supervision of linguists Jessica Coon and Morgan Sonderegger), this essay has a twofold intention. Firstly, it intends to carry out a brief analysis of such works, highlighting some of its merits and weaknesses. Secondly, based on the arguments presented throughout the analysis, it aims to reflect upon the marginality of the science of language in the sci-fi genre, and on science fiction itself, as a solution to escape that condition.

Keywords

• Linguística
• Ficção científica
• Filosofia da linguística