Friday, April 10, 2015
Spanglish
While reading The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, I found myself interested in
the use of Spanish or Spanglish throughout the text. For instance, Diaz writes,
“I looked up and saw my mother and my tia Rubelka and my tio walk into the
shop” (69). Instead of using the words “aunt”
and “uncle,” he chooses to use the Spanish words. Another example where Spanish
is used is on page 154, when Beli says, “Mama,
me mataron a mi hijo. Estoy sola, estoy sola.” I found the incorporation of
random Spanish phrases and words within the English to be interesting mostly
because I took four years of Spanish in high school, but while reading reviews
on this novel, some people disagree with me. They have said that the use of Spanish
in the novel was “gimmicky” and “gratuitous.” So then I begin to wonder why
Diaz chose use Spanish in his work, and besides the most obvious reason, which
was that he was trying to teach and inform others of the culture in the
Dominican Republic, I came up with a few other reasons. First, if the reader
was uneducated Spanish, it would allow he or she to learn more than just the
plot because they could either use context clues to understand the meaning of
the foreign words, or they could simply Google the words. I know there are many
times in English texts that I do not know the meaning behind words, and to
understand, I have to use a dictionary, so there is really no difference
between the two. I also believe think that the incorporation of a foreign
language creates mystery within the text. To understand more, the reader would
have to read on to find out the meaning if they chose not to look up the
translation. So my question for you all is, do you like the incorporation of
Spanish in the novel, or do you find it to make it harder to concentrate on the
storyline?
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I felt Diaz choose to include the Spanish was because that is how Yunior would speak. I felt it added a authentic feel to the text and didn't distract me at all. I read through the novel and only looked up a couple of words. Generally, even if I didn't know the exact translation, I understood the gist of it based on the text around it.
ReplyDeleteI have found Diaz's blend of urban slang and Spanglish to be so natural sounding. I think Diaz captures a contemporary Dominican-American voice, that may only seem strange or awkward to read if the reader has not been exposed to Caribbean-American cultures. Among other things, this novel reflects such a vibrant multiculturalism -- I wish that I had encountered more writing like this during college. However. if you guys are interested in a similar blend of English and another foreign language in story telling, Khaled Hosseini's _The Kite Runner_ and _A Thousand Splendid Suns_ are great books with the same feel.
ReplyDeleteI like the incorporation of the Spanish personally because I have a fascination with those who can speak another language. I agree with Morgan that Diaz wanted to give Yunior some authenticity and culture but I think it also reminds the reader of where the characters are coming from and how the ideals behind Hispanic culture are a driving force behind the novel. When the characters tend to act more serious, they tend to drift into Spanish which alerts the reader that something very serious is taking place. Also Diaz is a Hispanic-American author so maybe it is his way of combining the two cultures and trying to find a link between the two.
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