One of the most famous satirical works of all time, Gulliver’s Travels is narrated by an explorer and anthropologist who visits all sorts of strange lands and gives us a rundown of their customs and language systems. Gulliver is quite the linguist as well as befriender of strange-sized individuals, and he spends a lot of time learning and detailing the languages of these various cultures.
One theme that runs through the book is that language can be misleading and confusing, since the cultures that Gulliver visits have come up with some, er, innovative methods of getting back to basics—a trio of professors in Lagado suggest getting rid of words and communicating via things instead, for example. This may seem silly, but that’s kind of the point. Swift uses humor and exaggeration to explore the wide world of language and communication in folks of all sorts of unexpected islands.
Given that this is a satirical novel, what do you think the idea of communicating with objects rather than words is meant to satirize?
How does Swift’s commentary on language reflect the context in which it was written? And is it still relevant today?