Usage of Jargon in Sci-Fi Writing
Several reviewers and bloggers have noted that NYC2123 includes references to things that are not likely to exist 100 years from now, such as AIM and Wi-Fi. I think these folks are making an important point, and they are probably correct that some of these terms will not be in use in 2123 (see caveat below). Wi-Fi, for example, already has several likely next-gen successors, such as WiMAX.
Nonetheless, I think there are good reasons for employing such terms in a work of fiction, even though it may require some extra suspension-of-disbelief on the part of those familiar with the technologies in question and their likely obsolescence. By using the term "Wi-Fi," the important idea that I'm trying to communicate from a storytelling perspective is that the world of NYC2123 is one in which there is ubiquitous, publicly-accessible, broadband wireless connectivity. Referring to the technology in question as "Wi-Fi" immediately communicates this idea to the reader.
On the other hand, I could make up a name for the technology which will replace Wi-Fi -- it might be called "WiUltra" or "WiMega" or "BetaMax." But the point is we don't know what it will be called, and if I make up a new name for it, then I have to explain to the reader what I'm talking about, as in: "The WiUltra network blanketed the city in wireless, high-speed internet connectivity, blah, blah, blah."
From my perspective that just seems like gratuitous introduction of jargon, given that we already have a term at hand that conveys the central features of the technology in question. I think this kind of economy of words is particularly important for the format we've chosen, especially in light of the fact that many readers (like this one) already feel that the work is too "text-heavy". While I personally believe that NYC2123 strikes a fine balance between words and illustration, the constant introduction and definition of new terms would certainly force us to add even more text to the work.
A final caveat: While unlikely, it's certainly not impossible that we'll be talking about AIM and Wi-Fi 100 years from now. We still "CC" people on e-mails and "dial" numbers on our mobile phone keypads. Some descriptors have a way of transferring themselves to new technologies even though their literal meaning has ceased to make sense within the context of that new technology.
Nonetheless, I think there are good reasons for employing such terms in a work of fiction, even though it may require some extra suspension-of-disbelief on the part of those familiar with the technologies in question and their likely obsolescence. By using the term "Wi-Fi," the important idea that I'm trying to communicate from a storytelling perspective is that the world of NYC2123 is one in which there is ubiquitous, publicly-accessible, broadband wireless connectivity. Referring to the technology in question as "Wi-Fi" immediately communicates this idea to the reader.
On the other hand, I could make up a name for the technology which will replace Wi-Fi -- it might be called "WiUltra" or "WiMega" or "BetaMax." But the point is we don't know what it will be called, and if I make up a new name for it, then I have to explain to the reader what I'm talking about, as in: "The WiUltra network blanketed the city in wireless, high-speed internet connectivity, blah, blah, blah."
From my perspective that just seems like gratuitous introduction of jargon, given that we already have a term at hand that conveys the central features of the technology in question. I think this kind of economy of words is particularly important for the format we've chosen, especially in light of the fact that many readers (like this one) already feel that the work is too "text-heavy". While I personally believe that NYC2123 strikes a fine balance between words and illustration, the constant introduction and definition of new terms would certainly force us to add even more text to the work.
A final caveat: While unlikely, it's certainly not impossible that we'll be talking about AIM and Wi-Fi 100 years from now. We still "CC" people on e-mails and "dial" numbers on our mobile phone keypads. Some descriptors have a way of transferring themselves to new technologies even though their literal meaning has ceased to make sense within the context of that new technology.
posted by Chad Allen
at 8/27/2005 10:21:00 AM
3 Comments:
Cool. A post about science fiction and words. An Aspie's delight ...
I agree that the same terminology that we use today probably won't exist a hundred or so years in the future but that doesn't mean the words themselves won't exist. I'm reminded of, I'm going to use the 'G' word here - I haven't gone through all the posts on the site so I'm not sure how respected Billy Gibsons work is (I love it). Gibson refers to the cybernetic info storage devices that plug in behind ones ears as, I haven't looked this up so apologies,: 'fat bulbs of microsoft' or 'fat military microsoft'. Microsoft maybe not be a company but their legacy exists. In the same way in his Virtual Light trilogy there is a lengthy description of the terminology of the telephone dial. A term that should be extinct nowadays but isn't. A more geeky example is the word ping. When you ping some one in regular parlance you don't send them an ICMP echo. The word has adopted a new meaning. Usually you can first detect this semantic shift, transliteration on a cultural scale, when words become metonyms, (not sure of the plural there), or conversely synecdoches. The Microsoft instance is an example of this. I'm getting into Stephenson territory here but language can evolve in this way without the evolutionary costly mechanism of creating new words. The cost is amoritorized more efficiently than growing new semantic "limbs".
Man. That was a geeky 'graph. Sorry to bury my lede.
As long as we're geeking out on language, I'll note that Issue 1 contains at least one retronym. That is here, where what we currently call "bars" are called "alcohol bars" in 2123 (to distinguish them from bars that serve other types of legal drugs), much as what we now call "accoustic guitars" were once simply called "guitars."
Don't forget that many terms of the past survived into the present, although with slightly or dramatically changed meanings. In German, the word "Karre", which originally meant cart or chariot, is still used for any multi-lane vehicle. Also, some brand names become synonyms for a whole concept - today, if you search for something on the web, you're likely to tell people that you "google it", no matter what search engine you actually use. So in a fictive future where AIM was the de facto IM protocol of the past, people will probably say they'll "AIM each oher", no matter what system they really use.
By the way, thanks for this fantastic comic, it was actually one of the reasons why I got a PSP :)
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