It is not very common to see in the cinemas a science fiction blockbuster focused on linguistics and translation. This has raised the voice of many specialists – students, professors, translators, linguists, etc. – who are genuinely satisfied and proud to see that finally, at least one big production gives the real importance to their profession. As it is perceived, linguistics is a very misunderstood science, and therefore, watching this masterful movie is received as a rewarding payback.
Arrival is a movie based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, and focused on how humans try to communicate at the worldwide appearance of alien species, called heptapods. With a linguistics professor as the main character, the plot focuses mainly on how she works on making sense of their strange – but not unintelligible – language, whose written version constructs entire sentences as complex circles without a set word order. It soon turns out that only she could save humanity if she manages to figure out what they are trying to tell.
The plot has also very much to do with a renowned linguistic theory: the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. It is set in a world where you can remember the future – thinking of it just as we know past and present – by breaking down cognitive barriers that shape our life experience, and the tool that enables human beings to do so, is no other than language. The founding scientific principle is complicated, besides, our understanding of time is rather static.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity, focuses on the idea that language determines thought, so that it can alter our worldview and have a strong influence in our minds and decisions. Scientists do agree that depending on what language we speak, our cognition and the way we see the world can alter. In fact, language is both embedded in a physical and social level. We speak and hear with the bodies, inputs and outputs we have, and we use language in the context of our society. In Arrival, however, this theory may go far beyond. It is argued that language is the basis of civilization as we understand it, and as it was already mentioned, it could profoundly alter our experience of time to the degree that we can experience the future similarly to how we experience the past.
As the enigmatic plot unfurls, there are some paradoxical twists that finally lead to an emotional ending; and with the application of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, Arrival invites the audience to give it a thought about how we interpret our existence in life and to give it a glimpse from the linguistic vantage point. In the end, the movie raises open and cognitive questions such as how we face what we know about ourselves and how would we confront life if we had a deeper understanding of language itself.
Written by Ana Jiménez Morente
Content Editor. Communication Trainee, DG TRAD – Terminology Coordination Unit
Sources
- Business Insider. 2016. How the alien language in ‘Arrival’ works according to linguist. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/alien-language-in-arrival-linguist-2016-11?r=US&IR=T. [Accessed 20 December 2016].
- Emily Rome. 2016. How Arrival Turned Linguistics Into One of the Most Gripping Dramas of the Year. Available at: http://io9.gizmodo.com/how-arrival-turned-linguistics-into-one-of-the-most-gri-1789009881. [Accessed 22 December 2016].
- Lynn Cinnamon. 2016. Arrival ending meaning: language, time, the future Sapir-Whorf. Available at: http://lynncinnamon.com/2016/11/language-and-arrival/. [Accessed 21 December 2016].
- Science | AAAS. 2016. For linguists, the new sci-fi film Arrival can’t come soon enough. Available at: http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/11/linguists-new-sci-fi-film-arrival-cant-come-soon-enough. [Accessed 20 December 2016].
- Screen Rant. 2016. Arrival’s Ending Explained. Available at: http://screenrant.com/arrival-movie-2016-ending-time-explained/. [Accessed 22 December 2016].