Who coined the word `robot?`

Forget about shuttle diplomacy, economic diplomacy or even transformational diplomacy: the new one for this week is science fiction diplomacy.

This might sound like something out of the television show "Babylon 5" but science fiction diplomacy is happening right now between Korea and the Czech Republic.

The Czech Embassy is holding an exhibition showcasing the life and times of writer Karel Capek.

If the name does not ring a bell then maybe one of the words he introduced would. In 1921, Capek made popular the frequently used international word "robot" in his play R.U.R. (Rossum`s Universal Robots).

"It became immediately successful in English, German and approximately 15 languages," said Czech Ambassador Jaroslav Olsa, Jr. "The fact he named artificial people robots got into all these translations so now in every language in the world we got this Czech word but usually nobody knows where it came from."

The play is about artificial people named robots, who at first glance seem happy to serve humans but in the end destroy the human race.

R.U.R. became an instant hit in Europe and the United States where Spencer Tracy played one of the robots.

In 1938, BBC Television broadcasted a 35-minute section of the play making it the first piece of science fiction to air on television.

The word robot replaced other words such as automaton and android in many languages.

In its original Czech form, Olsa explained that "robota" means those people who are forced to work. He added that Capek named his brother Josef as the true inventor of the word.

The ambassador is no newcomer to the science fiction world.

"In a previous life I was a science fiction writer. I wrote the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Literature in the Czech language," he said.

So it is no surprise that Korea and the Czech Republic are working in collaboration to showcase their science fiction works in each other`s respective countries.

Once at the Korea Foundation Cultural Center, you can also check out the other exhibition in the adjacent hall about Czech poet and Nobel Prize for Literature winner Jaroslav Seifert.

Both exhibitions run until March 12. For more information visit www.kfcenter.or.kr or call (02) 3789-5600.

By Yoav Cerralbo



(yoav@heraldm.com)