But surely fantasy novels are not set in the world we live in. And
things that are set in the past, or in foreign lands, or alien worlds,
to be totally realistic, would not even use the English language for dialog.
So whatever we read, or see in the films, is translated in our modern
English language. It also makes sense, therefore, to translate
measurements into modern English, i.e. metric.
I saw a Bible film once, and two priests were talking and one said
something about the temple being a few metres away. If he had used
cubits it would be in the right context, but no one understands cubits.
If he had used feet or yards, it would be out of context and not up to
date with the modern world. By using metres, it is just a translation of
what would have been used back then, just as the words they spoke were a
translation of the ancient Hebrew. I rather think that in things like
that, if they are going to insist on realism and use things like cubits,
they might as well have everyone speaking Hebrew. Just as for films set
in the past, if they spoke the language of back then, or even a foreign
language, then we would not understand. Everything has to be translated
to modern language including measurement units.
At least in the world of sci-fi in the USA, it is mostly metric now,
such as Stargate SG1 and Star Trek (not so much the original series
though). In the UK, the sci-fi series Doctor Who (2005-2006) was rather
lacking in metric but its spinoff series, made by the same people,
called Torchwood, has so far been very metric.
David K
Remek Kocz wrote:
I honestly don't mind the use of Imperial measures in fantasy novels.
They're after all set in a medieval-like environment, when those
measures were used. Let's hope that someday, the only use of USC will
be in period novels meant to depict our times.
Remek
