City of Strangers

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City of Strangers (original title: Embassytown ) is a science fiction novel by the British author China Tom Miéville .

subjects

Biofabricated technology, architecture which, in the truest sense of the word, arises from grown living beings, living, mobile energy cells and bio-power plants - these are the keywords Miéville uses to bind his technophile readership to himself. In fact, these technical innovations are only accessories , just like the fact that the city ​​of strangers on the surface seems to be a novel of development . Here the experiences of a human person named Avice Benner Cho on a very remote, otherworldly colony are discussed. The problems of puberty , life as a traveling adult and their marital problems after returning with a man from a foreign country dominate the first half of the narrative. These very human learning processes are complemented by the embedding of their personal development in a socio-political context. The place told is a colony on the planet Bremen . Colonial politics , bureaucratic and logistical difficulties, local hierarchies and diplomatic customs do not simplify this structure. Last but not least, Arieka lies at the end of the known world , so to speak, and the path to more civilized worlds leads through spaces that Einstein would have found difficult to recognize as spatiotemporal.

As if that weren't enough, the locals, called Arikei, or hosts , speak an idiom , namely "language" , and there is nothing remotely comparable in the entire known universe. But that is exactly what the novel is mainly about, namely language.

In a way, City of Strangers is an attempt to illustrate Derrida's theory of difference and Einstein's theory of relativity in a novel. The difference between langue and parole is just as important as the innovative weighting of Einstein's space-time with a focus on the temporal aspect, which differentiates itself into an always and a sometimes . Whereby the always is not synonymous with always the same, i.e. constant, but on the contrary: Mieville's always is always inconsistent and also extremely hostile to life. Habitat in the human sense only exists sometimes .

Formal structure

The novel is divided into an introduction and nine parts, which in turn contain 30 sub-chapters.

The first three pages of the novel, from an open first-person perspective, highlight a so-called arrival ball. After this facet comes the introduction. Under the subtitle “Die Immer-Eintaucherin”, the career of Avice Benner Cho , the most important protagonist of the novel , is described in three sections, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 . Are children and teens to approximately 50 pages, her training as an always-Eintaucherin , her travels, her marriage to the linguist Scile outlined and the return of two of Ambassador City (= Arieka).

The actual novel begins on page 60 of the first part, entitled “Arrival”. The ninth and last part is entitled “The Liberation”. The whole novel is told from a first-person perspective by Avice Benner Cho ; initially on two different time axes that run through the first half of the book as numbered sub-chapters. In “Neuer Zeit, 1 - 8” Avice tells of the interpersonal complications that arose from the arrival of the new “impossible” ambassador. “Once, 1 - 10” describes the relationship between Avice and her husband Scile and how everything turned out the way it is now.

With the fourth part, a continuous narrative begins, which describes the survival in embassy city after the first catastrophic public appearance of the new ambassador. Changes in time or place numbered from 9 to 30 structure the remaining five parts of the novel.

action

overview

A few centuries ago, researchers from Bremen discovered an inhabited planet at the very edge of the known universe, which they named Arieka . The residents, winged, spider-like crab horses, had interesting skills and products to offer so that nothing seemed to stand in the way of trade relations. Until the problem of understanding became virulent. The Ariekei use a language that Bremen's linguists could easily decipher. The people of Bremen understood exactly what the Ariekei were saying. Conversely, however, any utterance made by humans was not even perceived as an offer of communication.

To solve this problem, Bremen founded an embassy, ​​around which a city slowly grew - embassy city. The atmosphere of Arieka was toxic to humans , which is why the city was artificially supplied with oxygen. It lay in a bubble and the host city expanded around it - host city.

"Language" , as the Ariekei call their communication, is produced with two mouths and thus sounds two-part. A so-called editing voice and a rotary voice generate a common sound. As luck would have it, once two frustrated researchers shouted the same word in “language” almost simultaneously , to which the arias finally showed a reaction. This created the basis for an understanding. Ariekei perceive only one “language” spoken by two voices and a sensitive person as communication. Sounds generated by computers or other mechanical devices fall through the Arieke grid. In order to come close to these conditions, experiments were carried out with identical twins , but all of them were unsatisfactory. Eventually, clones connected to each other via an electronic link brought the solution. The first ambassador duos emerged. The trade gets going.

As Arieka creates the ambassadors himself, the colony becomes increasingly independent. The home power Bremen cannot like that. There they forge other, more far-reaching plans, and finally send their own ambassador, created in Bremen, to Arieka . With the arrival of this stranger named EzRa , the novel begins. Even the first contact with the “language” of the new causes total mental paralysis and ecstasy in his Ariekei listeners. EzRa's speaking creates an incurable addiction for more of the same thing that quickly spreads to all residents of the host city and even affects the buildings and utilities that were all somehow created by "language" . The precarious supply situation in Ambassador City makes it necessary for the embassy to supply the locals regularly with the EzRa language drug in order to ensure their own survival. After a “shot”, the Ariekei are able to take up and act again for at least a few hours. That goes well until Ez murders his twin partner Ra after a heated argument. Now chaos breaks out and the addicted Ariekei are terrorizing the two parts of the city. A small part of the embassy staff , including the narrator Avice , and even some Ariekei are resisting the collapse. After Wyatt , the permanent representative of Bremen, has let you in on the secret of the production of EzRa , a second double and thus a second “god's voice” called EzCal is actually created .

That improves the situation, but only for a short time. The new drug shows nasty side effects. While EzRa's “language”, regardless of the content, only put Arikei into complete ecstasy, EzCal also generates total obedience. EzCal's voice is now absolute law, and this seemingly ultimate submission creates elemental resistance among many Ariekei . In a desperate act of brutal self-mutilation , they tear off the fan wings that are responsible for hearing. A huge deaf and dumb army was formed and advanced against the city.

From this moment on, Avice , the narrator, becomes extremely active. While EzCal relies on violence and sets up a defense army , Avice believes in an understanding with the insurgents. In fact, the level of organization of the insurgents is too good for there to be no communication between them, as would actually be expected in the case of Ariekei , whose hearing and thus also “language” has been taken away .

During her stay in Ambassador City , Avice came into contact with an elite group of Ariekei who practiced the discipline of lying, which was completely unthinkable for them, and held real competitions.

The "language" of the Ariekei suffered from a decisive shortcoming from the start: from a humane point of view, it was actually not a language. The essential distinction between what is indicative and what is denoted did not take place. Only what is real could be spoken and heard. Any conjunctivity was excluded. An Ariekei definitely, and it actually means physically, could not say, "This light is red" when that light was green. Lies eluded the Arieke language - worse, mind. One group that did practice at least revealed that they were aware of the problem.

In the extreme situation of the impending attack, Avice gathered the remains of the liars' faction around him and consistently trained them to lie. In fact, most of these willing apologists did , after a period of time, really succeed in lying convincingly. For them, however, this meant the end of the old "language" ; they turned into New Ariekei and were suddenly completely immune to the language drug EzCal .

At the same time, this group dragged a prisoner from the deaf and mute army with them, with whom no contact initially seemed possible. Over time, however, Avice realized that the rebels' communication was based on rudimentary sign language . The New Ariekei actually find a way to communicate with this tormented man, and with access to him they also find access to the entire army of the absurd , as it was baptized by Avice .

The great carnage does not take place. The army of the mutilated Ariekei sees a chance in the New Ariekei to neutralize the "language" drug without the great sacrifice. In the course of the de-escalation negotiations, they also invent the font , which was previously also an Arieke impossibility.

All's well that ends well? Now, Avice , the Bremen knows long-term plan for Arieka, namely the planet to an outpost, a last haven for new ventures into the unknown always use, believes that the chances of Ariekei have risen to survive this expansive strategy unscathed.

Details

cosmology

In which universe is the city ​​of strangers located ? At least not in the known. The only orientation Miéville gives us in this regard is the formulation: "... since people discovered the always and we became homo diaspora ." (P. 70) Merely bits of information and names like "Bremen" for an unspecified planet , who manages the Arieka colony and organizes trade, serve as breakpoints for the reader's territorial awareness. Bremen , Arieka and many other identifiable spaces exist within a chaotic period of time that is defined as “always” .

The Always is hostile to life, Urkontinuum that can be deliberately traveled by only a few specialists; the so-called always divers . Avice , the narrator, is one of them. In contrast to the structureless Always , the spaces in which humans or other species can exist are characterized by their "sometimes" quality. Sentient beings can only live in sometimes , and that is where the city ​​of strangers lies . These macrocosmic realities, however, are only the formal framework for the real subject of the book; - the language, but more on that later.

Socioeconomics

How is life organized on Arieka ? There are a small number of people and an even smaller number of other extraterrestrials. You live in Ambassador City. You are faced with an unknown number of arias , however, in the hundreds of thousands , who are also, respectfully, called hosts . You live in host city. Ambassador city and host city together form Arieka . In the host city, the air is poisonous for human affairs. The aeoli breath, an artificially created air bubble, is what makes life in the ambassador city possible. As the name suggests, the message forms the core of Ambassador City. It is the tallest and best secured building. Both the ambassadors and the entire administrative waterhead (viziers, adjutants, attachés and much more) live here.

Ambassador City is mainly supplied with agricultural products from the Ariekifarms, which are specialized in human beings. So-called flapos (read: message in a bottle) from the home power Bremen arrive at long intervals, but mostly contain gifts, messages or instructions. They drift purely mechanically through the always and are an extremely unsafe means of transport. In even greater intervals Always make ships from Bremen in Arieka one that relief bring to the embassy staff.

language

In order to make the meaning of "language" for the Ariekei understandable, it is useful to quote a longer text passage in which Miéville formulates the difference between "language" and the idiom of the New Ariekei :

“In the beginning every word of“ language ”, yes, every sound was isomorphic with something real: no thought - not really - but only self-expressed worldliness that spoke itself through the aria. “Language” has always been redundant: it has always been the world. Now the arias learned to speak and think. ... What was said was now "not-as-it-is". What they were talking about were no longer things or moments, but the thoughts of them: that which pointed to something. The meaning was no longer a flat facet of the essence, but signs that had been torn from what they denoted. It took the lie to do that. With that spiral of assertion and denial came subtleties, and the aria became itself. ”(P. 386)

This excerpt may measure how strongly “language” shaped the world of traditional Ariekei and what changes came into the world with the New Speakers .

Ariekei biology

What hosts look like: Oversized, horse-shaped chitin bodies, four long spiky, spider-like legs, dark-haired with too many joints, coral-like extrusions on top with each of the randomly arranged buds occupied by an eye. On her neck there is a shaft throat with the cut mouth resembling human lips. He speaks the editing voice. Their bodies swell at human chest height. There is the turning mouth that speaks the turning voice. On the back the multi-colored auditory fan wing spreads, on the front, below the larger mouth sits the present wing, the interaction and manipulation element of the Ariekei .

Action characters

Avice Benner Cho - used as a simile for "language" in her youth , embodied a phrase that means "the girl ate what she was given". Leaves town to work as an Always Diver. Eventually returns to Arieka with her husband Scile .

Scile , a linguist , conducts in-depth studies for the first time on the incomparable idiom of ariekei , finally develops a kind of fundamental theology about “language” and becomes a dissident and murderer.

Ehrsul , an automobile of unknown origin (Automa = more or less intelligent robot) with female characteristics, has been in town for a long time, extremely progressive Turingware , Avice's best friend , fell into a kind of electronic catatonia after the disaster .

EzRa , the new ambassador to Arieka , trained or produced in Bremen , turns all Ariekei into “language” addicts with his twisted version of “language” . Ez kills Ra after an argument and then connects with Cal in a second "God's voice".

CalVin , ambassador double , male, ex-lover of Avice , Vin kills himself in the course of the host disaster, Cal then connects with Ez to the second "God's voice " EzCal .

MagDa , double ambassador, female, spokeswoman for the ambassadors, also takes over the management of the administrative embassy staff after the disaster and the disempowerment of the previous head Wyatt

Wyatt , the highest representative of Bremen , head of the embassy bureaucracy, a technocrat .

EzCal , the new double between the surviving halves of CalVin and EzRa , together they form the new, second “God's voice ”, show during their reign a clear tendency towards absolute monarchy , at the end of the day they are only used to treat the few, incurable “language” “Addicts used.

Bren , the aged, surviving half of a pair of ambassadors, seems to live in isolation because he does not submit to the behavioral norms for those who remain behind, but has a large amount of secret information and contacts.

surl_tesh-echer , a host and the “master liar” of Arieka , is publicly murdered after a plot between the embassy leadership, the “language” purist Scile and the most influential host circles. The names of the arias are written like mathematical fractions in the novel because of the two voices.

spanischer_tänzer , a student of surl_tesh-echer , is baptized that way by Avice and later, after he has become a New Ariekei , takes on this name himself. Conduct negotiations with the leaders of the Army of the Absurd .

expenditure

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