Babel

From award-winning author R. F. Kuang comes Babel, a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal retort to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell that grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of language and translation as the dominating tool of the British empire.

Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation--also known as Babel.

Babel is the world's center for translation and, more importantly, magic. Silver working--the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation using enchanted silver bars--has made the British unparalleled in power, as its knowledge serves the Empire's quest for colonization.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power, and as a Chinese boy raised in Britain, Robin realizes serving Babel means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress, Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to stopping imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide...

Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?

These book club questions were prepared by Bookclubs staff.

Book club questions for Babel by R. F Kuang

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

How does Babel both utilize and subvert typical elements of the coming-of-age story or campus novel? In what ways does Robin's journey to Oxford follow the expected beats of a bildungsroman and where does it differ – and to what effect?

How does Kuang use fantasy elements like magic to sharpen her critique of real-world imperialism? How does this contrast with the use of magic and world building in other speculative fiction you’ve read?

Discuss how Robin's identity changes as he learns new languages but forgets Cantonese. What does this reveal about language's impact on personal identity? If you know more than one language, how does navigating between them impact your own sense of identity or perspective on the world?

Discuss the complex paternal relationship between Robin and Professor Lovell. How does it develop over time and what might it symbolize in terms of Britain's relationship with its colonies?

Compare how Robin, Ramy, Victoire and Letty deal with being outsiders at Oxford. How do their backgrounds and choices differentiate them? Given their differences, do you think the ultimate shattering of their friendship was inevitable?

Explore Robin's ability to "pass" as white British at times. How does the novel examine racial assimilation and cultural identity? When does Robin hide vs. embrace his ethnicity and why?

What narrative purposes are served by the academic footnotes throughout the novel? How do they expand the perspective beyond what the central characters know? Did you end up reading them or skimming over them?

Compare Professor Playfair's claim during the welcome speech that, “Translation, from time immemorial, has been the facilitator of peace” (Ch. 4) with the book’s tagline “An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.” Which statement do you agree with, or do they both have elements of truth?

How does translation as betrayal play out over the course of the novel? How do the "matches" created in translation in Babel conceal or betray their cultural origins?

In what ways does Babel critique not just Britain's imperial past but also the role of elite academic institutions in maintaining oppressive hierarchies?

How does the novel incorporate historical events like the Opium Wars? What connections does it draw between daily life in Britain and life in its colonies?

The book flap asks, “Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence?” What did you think of the different approaches and answers the characters arrive at? Can you truly work to reform oppressive institutions while continuing to benefit from them, or does this make you complicit?

Discuss this quote from the novel: "This is how colonialism works. It convinces us that the fallout from resistance is entirely our fault, that the immoral choice is resistance itself rather than the circumstances that demanded it." How does this quote relate to the subtitle “The Necessity of Violence"?

Discuss the ending of the novel. Do you think the characters made the right decision? Why or why not?

Babel Book Club Questions PDF

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