Babel

by R.F. Kuang

‘Precisely.’ Professor Lovell nodded. ‘China, I’m quite sure, is the future.’

‘Allah hafiz.* Write to your mother.’ ‘Yes, Abbu.’

She held grammar rules the way other women held grudges.

‘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.’

‘That’s just what translation is, I think. That’s all speaking is. Listening to the other and trying to see past your own biases to glimpse what they’re trying to say. Showing yourself to the world, and hoping someone else understands.’