#exact ways it's stigmatized is not. One works as a 'translation' of presumed in-universe slang and the other doesn't | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

prolibytherium · 2 months ago

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I see people complain that their immersion is broken when a book set in a historical period uses general contemporary slang/swear words/informal terms ('lads', 'guys', etc) etc and it's just like. You do realize that every language in every era was 'modern' to its users and had at least some vulgarity and slang right? Writing in vaguely 'old timey' speech solely on the basis that it took place a long time ago does not add any realism and if anything kind of detracts from it imo.

Like if you're writing a story in english + in a way that's legible to contemporary english language readers that takes place any time/anywhere that people did not speak contemporary english, you're already 'translating'. I feel like this 'translation' is made more complete by including at least Some vulgarity, informal speech, etc where the core underlying concepts and uses of these words are applicable to the setting. It makes the characters more human, not distanced from the reader by artificially antiquating them with a language that is exclusively hyper-formal and neutered in scope.

#I like the Emily Wilson Iliad translation because of this. Like the text doesn't use outright slang or vulgarity but its language feels #very contemporary because the goal of this translation is to convey the same concepts of the source language in a way that reads #more naturally to the contemporary reader than dead literal translation or forcibly antiquating the english text because Its Old #And I think including vulgarity and some degree of slang can accomplish this as well if the intent is that you are writing people #actually of an era speaking on a normal daily basis (rather than epic poetry or w/e)#I think there are Lines to it where it goes past this purpose (like when I have characters saying 'and I was like ____' that's crossing it)#(I don't include that in the actual text though)#Or like I'll include the word 'cocksucker' but not 'faggot' because the mere concept of Sucking A Peanus and this being seen as a #demeaning act that can be used as in insult is applicable to the setting but the contemporary definition of homosexuality and the #exact ways it's stigmatized is not. One works as a 'translation' of presumed in-universe slang and the other doesn't #I definitely fall into the more extreme end of doing this I don't think including AS MUCH vulgarity as I do is the only way to do it #I just think you should include Some

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