I was thinking earlier today about Battlestar Galactica, that favorite sci-fi show of mine that won’t be back until January. (Can you tell that I’m bitter?) I was thinking specifically about language in the show. It occurred to me that the Colonial Fleet is attempting to find Earth, where the Lost Thirteenth Tribe settled, right? Before I go any further, take a look at this, from Wikipedia:
Perhaps the most prominent religious component is the series’ overarching theme: the human survivors’ search for Earth. That search is motivated by ancient religious texts’ references to a 13th tribe of humans that established a civilization on a distant planet called Earth. Various religious relics and ruins, both on the 12 colonies and elsewhere in the galaxy, provide clues to Earth’s location.
This is what I’m getting at: I assume that, at some point or another in the series, the Colonial Fleet will reach Earth. If the 13th Tribe made it to Earth and then proceeded to live their lives for a few thousand years, the language they used would have developed, changed, evolved. Even if the 13 Tribes had all originally spoken the exact same language, by the time the Colonial Fleet arrives at Earth, the language should have diverged, following different developmental paths. Take the Scandinavian countries, for example. Norway, Denmark and Sweden are practically on top of each other, and look how Old Norse developed into the similar but different languages of Norwegian, Danish and Swedish33 However, it’s not even made clear as to whether or not the 13th Tribe was ever with the other 12 Tribes, so we don’t even know if they spoke the same language.
When the Colonial Fleet reaches Earth, if the 13th Tribe is still there, living out their lives, how will the communication between them be portrayed? Will the 13th Tribe speak the same language as the Colonial Fleet, just with different idioms and perhaps a slightly different vocabulary? Will they speak exactly the same way as the members of the Fleet speak? Will they speak some foreign language, which must be translated before the Fleet members can understand?
I suppose I could be considered a nitpicker, but this really does bug me. Obviously, since the show was made by English speakers with an English-speaking cast, the language that the people of the fleet speak is English. But are we to assume that it’s really “English”, or a different language altogether? Considering England is on the planet Earth, which is what the fleet is trying to find, how could the language the fleet speaks be called English? You have to have an England before you have an English language. So, let’s assume that really, the fleet isn’t speaking English. They’re speaking, let’s say, Caprican. It wouldn’t make any sense for the fleet to arrive at Earth, only to find that the inhabitants speak Caprican instead of English (or French, or German, or… you get the idea).
There’s one last facet of this that I see. One could argue that all 13 Tribes spoke the same language originally, and that the language - whatever it may be - hasn’t changed at all. That argument, however, kind of slaps one of the major themes of the show right in the face: evolution, namely, the evolution of the Cylons. If the show is based on robots evolving to look and behave exactly like humans, how could the makers of the show even entertain the idea of saying that the original language of the Tribes hasn’t evolved at all?
Any ideas on this? How could the makers explain this in a respectable way? And by “respectable way”, I don’t mean by essentially ignoring the issue, like they did in Stargate SG-1.3
- Actually, Danish and Swedish come from the East Nordic language group, whereas Norwegian comes from the West Nordic group. [More here.] That being said, I still think they’re a good example of how language changes over time.333
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Tags: Battlestar Galactica, Language, Scifi
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May 19, 2007 at 9:17 pm
Boris
I don’t think they would. Like artificial gravity, it’s better to ignore the concept completely and go on with the story, because otherwise, explaining these things, would be a huge hinderence to story telling, which after all, is the main aim of the show.
If they did have some language aspect in the show, it would have to be a large story point, otherwise it’s just an annoying quirk that gets in the way and doesn’t help the story along . . .
May 19, 2007 at 10:58 pm
Josh
Boris: Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from. I guess I’m just on the other side of the fence. To me, NOT explaining it is an annoying quirk.
May 20, 2007 at 1:10 am
Bodhipaksa
I think we have to assume that the language spoken by the Colonial Fleet is not and could not be English. In watching theater we simply have to suspend disbelief, just as you’d ignore the fact that the characters in Hamlet (set in Denmark) speak English.
When I start looking for the logical flaws in SciFi programs I get driven crazy!
If they do get to Earth it’ll be interesting to see what era of Earth’s history it is. If human beings brought the classic gods with them then the ancient Greeks were the descendants of the 13th tribe. The Fleet thus might arrive at the siege of Troy, in in modern times, or in our future!
I’m sure they’ll all continue to speak English, however, just so that the story can unfold smoothly.
May 21, 2007 at 12:52 pm
Josh
Bodhipaksa: Yeah, I know we often have to suspend disbelief while watching television (or enjoying any kind of entertainment, really). That’s the problem, I suppose, with me: when it comes to language issues like I describe, it’s really hard for me to suspend disbelief. Some people get jarred out of a film by something in the physical setting being wrong, or something just not being realistic; I get jarred out of the story by peculiar language issues. While I’ve not blogged about it here, I’ve often complained about people in movies using expressions that wouldn’t have even been known at the time. I.e., in a movie that takes place during the medieval era, people will sometimes say things like “Okay.” Argh!
I even had trouble ignoring the fact that the Russians and Germans in Enemy at the Gates spoke English (many with a British accent, ironically). At least in Schindler’s List, the Germans spoke English with thick German accents.
Thanks for commenting. I’d visited Wildmind a few times in the past when looking up things about Buddhist mantras; I’m subscribed to your blog now.
May 22, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Nils
Man, I entirely missed the boat with this one (BSG), didn’t I? I remember when I first heard about a new series coming, but it never reached Europe. I watched the first couple of episodes on The Daily Motion or something (that TV show site that had all the episodes in Flash movies, I forget), but I was so behind and the quality was bad, so I gave up. Now I hear we are in fact finally getting it over here too. I was a total fan of the original series btw. Splendid stuff.
Anyway, as far as the language thing is concerned, it irks me too when the creators of a show or film just ignore the aspect. If they use English only, for practical reasons, that’s okay by me, but I want them to apply (or even just consider) some kind of drama ‘method’ or ‘effect’ so that at least one gets the feeling we’re dealing with different cultures, different tongues.
Oh, I could write entire posts about this (what’s your take for instance on the Mel Gibson Approach?) and living in Europe, where a number of countries still dub foreign shows and films, I’ve had my fair share of annoyances. Recently, I watched a large bit of A Bridge Too Far, on French TV, with the Brits and Americans dubbed in French, but the Germans in their original language, but subtitled. Weird. I suppose it still beats the French dubbed version of ‘Allo ‘Allo
Well, this has almost become a post
Glad you’re at least publishing them more frequently than I am 
Take care mate.
(Oh, another great example: Kelly’s Heroes, perhaps not incidentally a war movie as well, has Yugoslav extras doing German whereas the Americans use nothing but anachronisms - notably the 1960’s hippie-speak of Donald Sutherland. But now I have indeed talked too much. Cheerio!)
May 24, 2007 at 2:38 am
Josh
Man, I entirely missed the boat with this one (BSG), didn’t I?
Completely.
I think you nailed it on the head: I don’t necessarily want all of the various characters, whether it’s in BSG or in a movie about WW2, to speak their respective languages. I just want the makers of the piece to at least consider the issue, and perhaps drop SOME hint towards the truth. For example, in Schindler’s List, Spielberg did a few things:
1. He had all of the Germans mostly speak in English with German accents. He said his reasoning for this is that he wanted to make it clear that they were Germans, and to give the German feel to the whole movie, but he also wanted watchers to be paying attention to the story being shown, not staring at subtitles for 3+ hours.
2. At a few spots in the movie, he actually had Germans, usually German soldiers, speak German, with subtitles. He explained that as just wanting to sprinkle some of the “real” language in the movie, to dip viewers into the culture. While I’m going to refuse at this point to get into a debate as to whether or not German is a “harsh” language, I will concede that a German shouting at people in English with a German accent, and a German shouting at people in German, are two very different things.
I’m not familiar with the Mel Gibson Approach. Are you talking about his latest movie? I’ve not seen it. How did he handle the language issue?
A Bridge Too Far just sounds bizarre. English and French fellows dubbed in French, but Germans speaking German… but with French subtitles. Okay then!
August 13, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Johnny Relentless
Warning: Do not read this if you don’t want to know how the original, 1970’s / 1980s series ended, although I would think that the new series will come up with a new ending, anyway.
In the original BSG series, they found Earth and it was 1980. They looked down on LA traffic from above and marvelled at how disciplined the Earth people were, for staying in such straight lines. Then they freaked out because they realized Earth was more pimitive than they were, and could not help them against the Cylons. They had led the Cylons to Earth, thus seemingly dooming everyone. I don’t remember how it actually eneded.
And, of course, they all spoke modern English without explanation.
I think Nils is referring to Gibson’s liberal use of subtitles in his last few movies.
In German ‘bat’ is fliedermaus (sp?) - flying mouse. And in Germany movies are always dubbed (often several people have the same voice), never subtitled. Try watching the adventures of the heroic yet creepy Flying Mouse Man. Ha! It loses something in translation.