LINGUISTIC DECONSTRUCTION OF EMPIRE IN THE NOVEL “BABEL” OF R. F. KUANG

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of R. F. Kuang’s novel Babel within the framework of postcolonial criticism, with a particular focus on rethinking the nature of translation. The relevance of this study is determined both by the work’s recent publication and by its resonance within contemporary European humanities discourse, where issues of colonialism, power, and cultural dependency have gained particular prominence.

         The paper examines how translation in the novel transcends the boundaries of a purely linguistic practice and emerges as a key mechanism in the formation and maintenance of the imperial system. It is demonstrated that linguistic resources and translation competencies function as a form of strategic capital that ensures the economic and political dominance of the metropole. Particular attention is paid to the transformation of the image of the translator. At the beginning of the novel, the translator appears as a traditional philologist, focused on semantic nuance; however, over the course of the narrative, this figure evolves into that of a rebel who becomes aware of his role within power structures and seeks to dismantle the system from within. It is argued that such awareness constitutes a precondition for the formation of a critical postcolonial consciousness in the characters.

         The article also analyzes the symbolism of Babel as a space of knowledge that simultaneously functions as an instrument of exploitation, where scholarship and translation are inseparable from the colonial project. The symbolic destruction of the Tower of Babel at the novel’s conclusion is interpreted as a radical act of deconstructing both the imperial system and the body of knowledge that sustains it. The evolution of the protagonist is further examined as a process of ethical self-determination culminating in a shift from complicity to resistance. It is shown that in this context translation acquires an ambivalent character: it can both reproduce imperial structures and undermine them.

         In conclusion, the novel is interpreted as proposing a view of language as a field of political struggle, where control over both material resources and linguistic meanings is contested.