The episode opens with Captain Picard in counsel with his officers. Picard explains that the Enterprise has been contacted by an enigmatic race known as “The Children of Tama”. Previous meetings with the Children of Tama were fruitless due to unsuccessful communication between the Federation and the Tamarians. Despite this they decide to rendezvous with the Tamarians in orbit at El-Adrel IV. As expected, communication is non-existent as the two sides banter back and forth helplessly. Interestingly, the Tamarians appear to use English words and phrases coupled with incomprehensible ones, such as, “Temba, his arms wide” and “Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra”.
Such struggles at achieving meaning between the
two parties brought to my mind our reading of “Media Representations &
Global Imagination,” by Orgad, and specifically the section, “Semiotics and
Structuralism”. In this section Orgad introduces Ferdinand de Saussure who is
considered the father of Semiotics, who, to explain it crudely, believes that communication
is achieved using a system of signs, which are used between communicators to
derive meaning. A “sign” itself is arbitrary and holds no implicit value, but
when transmitted to an interlocutor is then received as a “signifier”. Words
are signifiers and based on prior experiences eventually become “signified”
into a meaning as a result. That’s enough of linguistics for now.
Where was I?
Ah yes, as communication is breaking down the Tamarian Captain kidnaps Picard
by beaming them both down to the planet El-Adrel IV with an ion scattering
field around them rendering the Enterprises’ transporter beam effectively
useless as a means of recovering the captain. On the planet confusion continues
and both captains become increasingly frustrated by their inability to create
understanding. Eventually, Picard’s trial and error allows him to unlock the
mystery of the Tamarian language. It would appear the Tamarian language is
based primarily on mythological metaphor or by citing previous historical
imagery for specific meaning. “Shaka, when the walls fell” signifies failure
and “Temba, his arms wide” signifies a gift. Temba and Shaka are mere names of
historical Tamarian characters. Now, back to Saussure. Both languages have
identical signs and signifiers, such as “wall”. The miscommunication occurs due
to the fact that “wall” in Tamarian is used as part of an overall construct
developed through mythology, and signified by specific myth. Communication is
impossible without prior exposure to Tamarian mythology. Such a system would be like referencing snippets
of Homer to communicate your journey to the store, unless you knew Homer,
communication would be impossible.This illustrates the concept
of connotation, as taught by Roland Barthes in the same segment of the reading,
which explains that a conceptual framework is required to decode meaning when
communicating.
All is not lost, however, as Picard is
exposed to the signs or phrases he is able deduce meaning and eventually communicate,
on a very fundamental level of course. I won’t ruin the ending of the episode
for you but will finish by saying that Picard’s experience ends with “Shaka, when
the walls fell” and with a greater “Sokath, his eyes uncovered”. If you already
know what these phrases mean you’re a much bigger Trekker than I.
Well, I'm afraid I have to confess my nerdiness, as I do know what "Shaka, when the walls fell" and "Sokath, his eyes uncovered" means. This episode also harkens back to the 1985 film Enemy Mine which involves a similar scenario when two enemies find themselves stranded on a deserted planet in a survival situation in which they need to learn to trust and rely on one another, including creating a communication system to understand each other. Stargate SG-1 paid tribute to both, as Daniel Jackson is stranded on a planet where he meats an Unas named Chaka (reference to Shaka?) ending up in a similar situation, and then later in an episode called "Enemy Mine" when Chaka returns to help the crew.
ReplyDeleteSemiotics and Communications has become a major theme in Sci Fi, as it serves as a perfect medium to test theories of symbols, signs and signifiers as means of communication outside of our own human discourse.
Great reference Adam, and totally relevant. TNG also has great episodes in regards to conflict resolution if anyone is interested.
By the way, I think we're usually referred to as 'Trekkies' but I suppose either term is fine. I'm old enough to remember when Next Gen first aired, it was exciting since at that point I had followed the original cast through reruns and had seen all the films. You could say I'm a lifer, though I haven't followed all that closely since the end of Deep Space 9 (the best series in my opinion) and the last Next Gen film. (Thanks JJ Abrams, but your interpretation of the Star Trek universe is cool and flashy but is lacking some serious substance). The episode Darmok, while not one of the best TNG offerings, was intriguing nonetheless. I like how it challenged the conventions of the series since the concept of a universal translator was almost always glossed over. I also appreciate how the series addressed profound philosophical questions that rarely find broadcasts slots outside of PBS. Darmok in particular was one of those episodes that illustrated the power that myths and legends have on our collective psychology and the continued importance of symbolic experiences. The key for Picard in deciphering the means to communication with the Tamarian Captain is his realization of an analogous metaphor from Earth's past, that of the Sumerian legend of Gilgamesh. At the end, their ordeal enters the cultural lexicon of the Tamarians: "Picard and Dathon at El-Adrel", fun stuff.
ReplyDeleteFor the uninitiated, most of the Aliens in the show, especially the most established species, are metaphors used to reflect different aspects of human society and Darmok would then be something of a story on our own difficulties as a species to communicate across cultures. Though our psychologies are fundamentally shared through genetics and in many cases our myths and religions are based on similar experiences in the corporeal realm, diversity in language and interpretations have meant that our differences have often trumped our similarities with the occasional breakthrough in communication leading to progress in understanding.
The connection between alien species in Star Trek was made more explicit in the 6th season episode "The Chase" where the Enterprise and 3 other Alien species pursue a galactic genetic puzzle promising unknown rewards. Each group cannot progress without sharing the portions of the puzzle that they've already collected, yet, as is typical in international affairs, no side trusts another and most seem willing to betray the others to get to the ultimate goal first. Some think a great weapon awaits, while others expect a revolutionary source of power. In the end, once the puzzle is solved, the answer is far more modest yet profound, an ancient progenitor race had seeded our sector of the galaxy with it's genetic artifacts, leading to the rise of sentient humanoid races on many planets (Think Prometheus) whilst preserving the ancient aliens' legacy who also leave a message encouraging peace. Again, metaphors abound as the Klingons and Cardassians cannot accept sharing ancestry with 'inferior' or 'honorless' people. Sound familiar? On Earth alone, different races of people have been considered as different species before real science disposed of that myth and further shows that race itself is an inaccurate, even false distinction based purely on superficial traits rather than genuine genetic difference. Yet, despite what the facts tell us, people generally have a difficult time accepting the unity of humankind and instead prefer the comforts of duality in belonging to 'us' in-groups versus 'them' and their terrible, inconceivable butter-side-down ways. In 'The Chase' the possibility of future peace is hinted at at the very end, though the obstacles remain as daunting in that science fiction world as they do for us in the present day.