Foreign Language in Fiction
By Guest | August 30, 2019 |
Please welcome author Ann Mah to Writer Unboxed today! Ann–who is based in Paris and Washington, D.C.–is the author of two novels, The Lost Vintage and Kitchen Chinese; a food memoir, Mastering the Art of French Eating; and a cookbook, Instantly French. She contributes regularly to the New York Times Travel section. Her articles have also appeared in Condé Nast Traveler, The Best American Travel Writing 2017, The New York Times Footsteps, Washingtonian magazine, Vogue.com, BonAppetit.com, Food52.com, TheKitchn.com, and other publications.
I’m so glad to have her with us today to talk about using foreign language in novels–something she does very well. Case in point, her novel The Lost Vintage–which received a starred review from Library Journal–is set in Burgundy, and laced with both an intriguing mystery and the perfect amount of French. And Ann’s debut novel, Kitchen Chinese, is currently $1.99 across ebook platforms.
Thanks for being with us, Ann!
Foreign Language in Fiction
My love of travel runs so deep I’ve managed to combine it with my work, writing books and articles set in far-flung places. With these foreign settings comes foreign languages, the words, greetings, and cadences helping to recreate the identity of a place. I find it impossible to write about a country without hearing its sounds, and in my books set in France and China I’ve sprinkled snippets of the local language. But when does a foreign word or phrase add color and authenticity – and when does it become distracting? I consulted a few popular novels and chatted with a few authors to try to find the sweet spot.
Set in Naples, Italy, Elena Ferrante’s bestselling Neapolitan quartet is steeped in the city’s gritty seduction. Its main characters come from a neighborhood characterized by poverty, violence, and Mafia vendettas, and they speak to each other in Neapolitan dialect. Despite this lingua franca, Ferrante writes the dialogue in proper Italian, while offering an occasional reminder that the conversations are taking place in dialect. “This saves the reader from having to struggle through laboriously rendered, potentially offensive slang à la Huckleberry Finn,” writes Justin Davidson in Vulture. “It also makes it impossible to forget how far the narrator, Elena Greco, has traveled, from her days as a postwar urchin to the heights of literary respectability.” Although Ferrante largely omits dialect from her text, the HBO adaptation of the series’ first book My Brilliant Friend cast local actors who perform in dialect with Italian subtitles. As a result, Neapolitan becomes “the language of the imprisoning neighborhood,” writes Davidson. “Italian is the language of ideas, the imagination, and social mobility – in a word, the language of freedom.”
For author Stephanie Cowell, foreign phrases can “remind the reader every now and then where the book is taking place,” she says. “The best use of this I’ve seen is in a memoir called The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit.” Written by Lucette Lagnado, the book tells the story of her childhood growing up in a Jewish family in Cairo. “When the mother speaks to her in French, it immediately provides context to the dialogue,” says Cowell. “It goes back to the tradition, the old against the new,” with the author depicting both parents speaking French to instruct and reprimand their daughter.
In 19th century England, Charlotte Brontë presumed her readers to be so well-educated that she didn’t bother to translate the numerous French passages that appear in Jane Eyre. “Brontë makes French into a kind of license for freedom of speech issued to both the eponymous heroine and the novelist herself,” writes Emily Eells in the academic journal, “Cahiers victoriens et édouardiens.” In the novel, Jane’s French language fluency helps her attain a post as governess, a job that offers her a rare income and independence. “Thanks to the French language, Brontë’s heroine succeeds in constructing her own space in the Victorian domestic world,” writes Eells. (And if you’ve ever been mystified by the book’s French phrases, The Toast offers a hilarious translation.)
In her memoir, The Fortress, which tells the story of a marriage unraveling in Bulgaria, France, and the United States, author Danielle Trussoni uses foreign words to add subtext. Describing her life in Sofia, she refers to a “sladkarnitsa” (Bulgarian pastry shop) and “pechka” (primitive stove) without overtly defining them. “I pepper Bulgarian in that chapter to make the reader feel alienated because that’s how I felt,” she says. “I didn’t know the language.” Her forthcoming horror novel, The Ancestor – set in the Alps on the border between France and Italy – uses Franco-Provençale, an extinct dialect, to create a 19th-century atmosphere. “The local population had a patois that was a mixture of Italian and French,” she says. “But the aristocracy spoke very proper French.
Along with adding texture and authenticity, Trussoni feels that bits of foreign language offer “a space of imaginative and narrative freedom,” she says. “It adds ambiance and characterization and lets the reader fill in everything that could fit in those words.”
After all, isn’t that what great fiction is all about?
Over to you, WU’ers: What do you think about foreign language in novels? Do foreign words add ambiance to fiction, are they distracting?
If you’re inspired, feel free to share an outtake in comments.
Many thanks to today’s guest.
You can read more WU guest posts by visiting this link.
As an Icelandic-Canadian writer, I believe it one of my duties to create Icelandic characters and share Icelandic words. But I don’t want to alienate my readers so I put the translation right beside the word–afi (grandpa).
As a reader with dyslexia, I’m used to slipping words I don’t understand and gaining meaning from the surrounding text.
Thanks for reading, Leanne! I love that you are sharing your Icelandic culture in your writing.
Thanks for this essay, Ann! I agree that the use of words or phrases in different languages adds texture to a story. Even if I can’t quite translate a word, I can usually guess its meaning from context. Recently, I read the charming middle grade novel Merci Suarez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, a coming of age tale about a Cuban American girl. The novel was peppered with Spanish sayings and cultural tidbits that I enjoyed learning.
Thanks for your comment, SK. I also like learning new words via context (and I think this is the way we all build our vocabulary as kids!). Meg Medina’s books ounds lovely and I will definitely check it out.
I enjoy books set in different countries and even in the US in ethnically diverse communities and I love how it brings the people to life. A little bit goes a long way. And when done well, you don’t even need a glossary. The latest book I loved with foreign words was POET X by Elizabeth Acevedo. Beautiful, powerful writing.
Thanks for reading, Vijaya. You are so right – when it comes to foreign words in prose, a little bit goes a long way! Thanks for this book recommendation – I will look for it!
Great topic! Languages add an extra layer, a grace note as it were.
Educated people in Europe often speak at least three languages. with at least a smattering of Latin. Many Americans have no second language.
When I use foreign words or phrases, I keep the flavor AND the meaning available – but I make sure it is completely transparent to either group of readers. It is a challenge – but one that is part of my job as the writer. I always use italics to mark them.
—–
From Pride’s Children: PURGATORY:
Her legs shook. She sat abruptly, placed the knife carefully on the step. Primum non nocere? It made no sense to do him no harm first, if he was meaning to harm her. She put her head between her knees to keep from throwing up.
—–
Most people will vaguely remember at least something about ‘First, do no harm’ in the Hippocratic Oath, and I don’t have to spell it out. The character is a former physician, and current novelist, who has irritated a fan to the point where he is trying to get into her house. She is ill, he’s a big burly guy, and the only weapons she has if he breaks in are her sharp kitchen knives. This is what she thinks – as she hears the police sirens – justifying her decision to do harm if necessary.
A grace note is a perfect description. Thanks for reading, Alicia!
A terrific article, Ann! Thanks for letting me be a part of it!
Thank you for your wonderful, wise comments, Stephanie!
I have a great deal of fun adding foreign phrases to my novels. In my latest novel Fiddler’s Lament, I have the teacher coaching the young Irish Catholic students in several languages:
“Buonasera,” Aidan greeted them in Italian, the language of the pope in Rome.
“Buonasera, maestro,” the children responded.
“Wangshang hao Xuesheng,” he said, switching the greeting to Chinese, the language he’d learned working for the British East India Company importing tea from China.
“Wangshang hao,” the children replied with a well-rehearsed Mandarin accent.
Fun huh? I don’t think it distracts the reader at all.
Charles McNamara
This is a great scene, Charles! Thanks for sharing it. I will be looking for Fiddler’s Lament!
I agree that adding foreign words into texts can add ambiance and texture, but sometimes they can be distracting as well. That happens when the context doesn’t make the meaning of those words as close to evident as possible. When that’s missing, and there’s no way to translate the word, you can lose your readers. I think finding that balance is important. In the book I’m trying to write, I’m not sure I want to add foreign words, although I certainly could.
I have two French Canadian characters in my latest novel, Yellowhead Blues. I’m careful not to slow the reader down (i.e. distract) with too many French words or mispronounced English words, but I want to make sure the reader doesn’t forget what made the characters who they are.
Thanks for the great post.
In my WIP I am using some Spanish in dialog where I can and where I think the reader won’t be frustrated or stumble. I just finished reading The House of Broken Angels about a Mexican family and Spanish is used throughout in much the same way Cormac McCarthy used it in the Border Trilogy. Also, Murakami uses Japanese a bit and I love his works… So I am giving it a shot!