Language is a central concern of science fiction. From first contact to interstellar warfare, stories about aliens inevitably raise questions of communication. But how do we conceive of alien languages within the constraints of human language? And what do depictions of alien languages reveal about our own language use? Several studies have established the significance and magnitude of the theme of language in (predominantly twentieth century western) science fiction. Building on these studies, I combine macro-analysis with close reading to argue that these alien languages fall on a spectrum of alterity. Within this spectrum, I organise these languages into three distinct gradations of alterity: they help to define their speakers as alien people, creatures or inscrutable beings. The languages of alien 'people’ are structurally similar to our own, and explore the socio-political relationship between language and culture. Those of ‘creatures’ are radically, physically unlike human languages and explore the boundary between humans, animals and aliens. Finally, the languages of ‘beings’ are incomprehensible and prone to spiritualisation. They bring to light the aspects of experience we deem beyond language. This typology provides a framework through which to explore the major themes and questions regarding language, humanity and alterity in science fiction. By presenting these categories in increasing degrees of alterity, I aim to demonstrate that language, like the figure of the alien, is a fundamentally anthropocentric concept. Each category identifies different facets of our language use that simultaneously alienate and define us.

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce the so far ignored topic of fictional languages in literature. In the first part it focuses mainly on the function of the fictional languages in the literary works, and analyses the basic options of the fictional languages classification, based on whether they can be labeled as an independent work of art, as an autonomous part of a work, or as an instrument of the aesthetic function in the work. Furthermore, it divides the fictional languages in accordance to the way in which they take effect, either through the expression-form, through the expression- substance, through the content-form, or through the content-substance, taking the terminology from the Louis Hjelmslev's sign model. The second part consists of the analysis of the cases of fictional language usage in prose; these usages are grouped into three divisions. Languages, which help to create an invented world (and eventually add up to its authenticity), are represented by J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional languages. The dystopian languages include Newspeak from the novel Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell, ptydepe and chorukor from the play The Memorandum by V. Havel, and "Moon Czech" from the prose The True Excursion of Mr. Brouček to the Moon by S. Čech. Fictional languages related to philosophy are...

The PhD thesis "Constructed Languages in Literature" focuses on the phenomenon of consciously designed or drafted languages and their usage in literary texts. The first chapter of the thesis offers reflections on the delimitation of constructed languages, especially from the perspective of the mostly illusory opposition of natural and constructed. It also puts forth the problems of glossolalia and encryption or encoding of a text in a natural language, while suggesting these two ways to create a new utterance should be perceived as possible starting points for language creativity, rather than a completely different phenomenon. The subsequent chapters then turn to individual cases and introduce extensive groups of constructed and virtual languages - animal languages, utopian and dystopian languages, sacred and divine languages and constructed and virtual languages in poetry. In those chapters examples of both elaborated and drafted languages appear, so that the imagination characteristic of each group comes out.