I noticed as I
read The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
that the shifting between English and Spanish happened more often the
farther in the first chapter that I read; in the second section, there wasn’t
much Spanish included, except for when Lola is talking about her family. I
liked the inclusion of Spanish; it made it clear that this neighborhood is
keeping their Dominican roots alive. Many times Spanish is used, it is
affectionate; when Lola and Oscar are leaving the Dominican Republic after
their visit, their “abuelo” says, “Cuídate mucho, mi hijo” (32). This means,
“Be very careful, my son.” Sometimes, though, it is used to either insult or
punish: “Muchacho del diablo!” (13), which means “young man of the devil.” Spanish
is also used as just an adjective in an English sentence occasionally. I love
the use of Spanish in this novel.
I also liked the use of Spanish in the novel. I find it interesting that Diaz picks and chooses what phrases to say in Spanish rather than having whole sections of just Spanish. It makes what the character is saying a little more interesting and romanticized. Perhaps the use Spanish winds down throughout the text to represent the characters beginning to lose their heritage/culture.
ReplyDeleteI agree! I think it is a clever thing to do within the novel. We are not only getting our culture throughout the novel, but we get a piece of the natural cultural throughout the novel as well. I also appreciate the use of first person between characters in the novel. I feel that this allows us to gain perspective of multiple characters, and not get to know the characters through one point of view.
ReplyDeleteFor me it was interesting to see because I have been studying Spanish throughout both high school and college. When I came across a Spanish phrase or word, I was excited to be able to actually understand what it was saying. The cultural significance behind a dual language speakers is fascinating and I am interested to see how it progresses as we finish the novel.
ReplyDeleteI liked the shift in language, it made the novel more realistic to me. I have Cambodians in my family and they are constantly intertwining languages. Also some of my friends who speak Spanish do the same thing. My Spanish teacher says a lot of languages will use some English words because it is either easier or just because it's "cool."
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