> J. K. Hoffman sikyal:
>
> > I know a lot of folks don't think there have been
> that many "linguist
> > heroes" in fiction, but I think there are more
> than we want to believe.
> > For instance, the hero of _The Languages of Pao_
> by Jack Vance, who's
> > name escapes me. The already mentioned _Babel
> 17_, of course. Most
> > recently, _The Scar_ by China Mieville has a
> linguist heroine. In fact,
> > she even makes a snide remark about someone
> mistranslating the pluperfect.
> > I'm away from my library, but I have a book called
> _Aliens and
> > Linguists_ which is an examination of linguistics
> in science-fiction and
> > fantasy. I *know* it lists other examples, but
> they escape me at the
> > moment. (I think C. J. Cherryh has had some
> linguist heroes, as well.)
> >
> > When I get home again tonight, I'll scare up the
> book and list out more.
> > In the meantime, can anyone else think of
> linguist heroes? There
> > *have* to be more than the three I listed.
>
> Hiro Protagonist of Snowcrash is not exactly a
> linguist, but he does do a
> lot of linguistics in the course of the novel.
>
> Ransom from CS Lewis's Space Trilogy is a linguist.
>
> I read a book a while ago about a preternaturally
> gifted linguist who used
> his skills to learn an alien language and deliver
> Earth from the alien
> oppression. The title now eludes me, though.
>
>
> --
> Jesse S. Bangs jaspax@u.washington.edu
>
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/
>
http://students.washington.edu/jaspax/blog
>
> Jesus asked them, "Who do you say that I am?"
>
> And they answered, "You are the eschatological
> manifestation of the ground
> of our being, the kerygma in which we find the
> ultimate meaning of our
> interpersonal relationship."
>
> And Jesus said, "What?"