I'd forotten about the fish! Hee hee. I always appreciated those
episodes of ST that dealt with the language issue. Are you familiar with
Farscape? The first episode deals with this issue in a very interesting
way, IMO (worth renting the series on DVD if you missed it).
I think the reason storytellers (both sci fi and fantasy) tend to work around
the language issue is that it eliminates that confusion and allows the story to
be about other points of conflict which may be in some way more universal.
I think language barriers are only one symptom of our great cultural
differences. I think the best story tellers recognize these differences,
even if they elliminate the language barrier. Does Tolkein do this in
The Hobbit? Do the dwarves, spiders, eagles, hobbits, men and
elves all have distinct cultures, values and traditions? More or less,
I'd
say.
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Letter 27: I picture a fairly human figure, not a kind of ‘fairy’ rabbit as some of my British reviewers seem to fancy: fattish in the stomach, shortish in the leg. A round, jovial face; ears only slightly pointed and ‘elvish’; hair short . . .’
