: You really misunderstand how fiction works. In most novels and short stories the characters never visit the toilet. Does that mean that Frodo, Macbeth, or Odysseus never defecated? No. It just

@Karen856

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You really misunderstand how fiction works.

In most novels and short stories the characters never visit the toilet. Does that mean that Frodo, Macbeth, or Odysseus never defecated? No. It just means that everyone knows that people have to move their bowels, and that since it is irrelevant to the story it is not mentioned. Just like breathing, wearing clothes, and everything else that people do on a regular basis and take for granted.

Now everyone knows from personal experience that people speak different languages and that you have to learn foreign languages to communicate internationally. It is such a common and therefore banal fact of everyday life, that you don't have to mention it in fiction for readers to understand that it is going on when people from different countries interact.

That said, languages do play a role in many works of fantasy and science fiction, when they are relevant to the storyline. A recent example is the movie Arrival in which the attempt to communicate with aliens is the driving "antagonistic" force of the plot and the heroine is a linguist.

Translation devices, such as Star Trek's "universal translator", are a common gadget in SF, but there are quite a few fantasy novels in which language learning or translators play some role, as well. And if they don't, just think of how often you heard of interpreters in history class in school – probably never, although they are just as much a part of trade and politics, both in the real world and in fantasy novels, as aides, chauffeurs, or speechwriters (of which you don't hear much in reality or fantasy, either).

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