Language’s role in Snow Crash can be prominently seen in both its syntax and word choice as well as in its plot. Names like Hiro Protagonist and slang words like burbclaves and paddle (to describe skateboard) create a world that is at once both familiar and strange. In the plot of the novel, language is portrayed as a mystical and powerful tool that can shape reality. Although this view of language may seem exaggerated or supernatural, language very much shapes our perception of reality. Language gives us the ability to form concepts and to categorize things in the world. In “On Truth and Lie in an Extra-Moral Sense“, Nietzsche says that language can only represent reality through metaphors. Metaphors, as we usually think about them, are used to describe one event by likening it to another event that relates to the first event in a very specific way, and is otherwise unrelated. By saying that language describes reality only in metaphors, Nietzsche is claiming that the words and sounds we use to try and represent reality really have no correlation to reality at all. We often forget that our perception of reality is detached from reality itself. Language gives us a false sense of security that we know the essence of reality. In this sense, language is one of the most powerful forms of technology that we have as humans, and is essential to the way we experience the world.
I also found the role of Sumerian in Snow Crash as a non-metaphorical language interesting . The traditional definition of language would be a means by which to communicate power and imperatives, as opposed to a power in itself. However, in Snow Crash, Sumerian serves as both the power and means by which it is communicated. I also agree with Daniel’s point that language is partially untrue to what it attempts to represent; i.e., each persons’ definition of a word is rooted in their personal experience with that word and what they take it to represent.
To contrast this usage of language, we can use the Bible as an example. The Bible is taken to be the word of God; however, due to historical discrepancies and the passage of time, multiple variations of the Bible exist. The Mormons have their own version of the Bible; the Bible is often interpreted as doomsday events, etc. However, in the Sumerian religion, there can be no ambiguity in the interpretation of their religions words as their meaning is directly tied to their action. While not necessarily a cornerstone of the story, I found Stephenson’s concept of a non-metaphorical language an interesting question.
Language does indeed have a prominent role in this novel. Names in this book (you cited Hiro Protagonist and slang terms) not only give us a simultaneous feeling of familiarity and distance, but also a humorous impression of the novel’s tone. How many authors (especially those of acclaimed literary works) name their protagonists Protagonist? Or elucidate white suburbia by going as far as to perpetuate segregation in this futuristic society? Clearly this is the work of a satirist. Language in this novel is used to “call out” things for what they truly are, which runs contradictory to literary masterworks that hide their purposes with flowery language and nuanced symbolism. The overt hyperboles, exemplified greatly by use of language, contribute to the absurdist, dare I say spiteful, approach to this work. Snow Crash is a shameless comic book of a read, synthesizing extrapolated aspects of Stephenson’s perceived reality with expansive projections of his imagination.
To address your argument on the importance of language, I do not know if it is the most powerful technology that we have (and will ever have) at our disposal. It is certainly the root of many, if not all, technological breakthroughs and therefore is prevalent as a common ancestor to our accomplishments. Language certainly does shape our perception of reality. Even the closest synonyms can be differentiated from one another in their minute shades of connotation. The way a story is told can vastly change its meaning and interpretation (for example, imagine Snow Crash as a Shakespearean tale told completely in iambic pentameter). Another way to understand the complexities of language and its impact on our experiences is the bat (as in the animal). In English, we say the word “bat”, a term created exclusively for this animal (ignoring baseball bats and the like, of course). In French, the term is “chauve souris”, which translates directly to “bald mouse”. Anglophones might never dream of conceptualizing a bat as a bald mouse, while the French term itself is completely based on that metaphor. In Russian, the word for bat translates into “flying mouse”, a different analogy entirely. These reductionist examples, while having a relatively small scope, can bring an understanding that language does indeed affect the way humans perceive the world in so many contexts, be it linguistic, cultural, emotional, psychological, scientific…the list can continue indefinitely.