Culture versus language

[claudeb]

I meant to put this on my gamedev blog initially, but there's too much to unpack, and it pertains to writing in general much more than games. Over on Medium there's an amazing piece titled The Uncanny Valley of Culture, and we really need to talk about it. Here's just one little sample:

What we have here, in international critical responses to unapologetically Australian media, amounts to a punishment for us daring to write familiar, messy, authentic narratives. The cultural cringe comes from inside, but the real sources of it are the external, oppressive, and prescriptive forces of American storytelling tradition. Isn’t it messed up that when an American critic points at Necrobarista’s dialogue and says, “nobody talks like that,” when in fact I’m almost directly quoting a grieving friend, my first reaction is to apologize or try and see if I can change it to fit their tastes?

As an English language writer from Romania, this strongly resonates with me. Having to explain every little detail for US readers who never seem to read between the lines. Having to justify such alien feelings as longing for home. Having to change language used by many other writers because one editor thinks it's weird. (Where'd you think I picked it up?! You don't own English!)

My own favorite example of this issue is Mamma Mia, a movie beloved by the general public (at least in Europe), but panned by critics who used much of the same incomprehending language. Over here, see, we're equipped to watch a British woman's idea of a Bollywood production and really get it. And European countries are more culturally varied than you'd expect on one small continent. Across the pond however... things are seriously messed up. How exactly would be too much to unpack here, and potentially upsetting to my American friends. But that bundle of issues has been exported for decades as a kind of New Global Culture, with terrible results. It's time we reclaim our respective identities.

I love English anyway, and not just because it grants me potential audience in the billions. Yes, a living language is going to be quirky. Try learning another.

Comments

[cmcmck]

Our USian friends are not always capable of seeing that not everyone uses English like them.

Maybe I should consider writing some Shropshire dialect poetry? That'd puzzle them! :o)

[claudeb]

Elsewhere I heard from an American who said this problem happens even within the US. It occurs to me that it's not just a matter of people using English differently. Reality is unrealistic and all that.

[cmcmck]

'Fake Scottish accent' made me grin as my husband is a Scot! :o)

Dick Van Dyke's 'Cockney accent'? Apparently, he's still apologising for that all these years later!

[andrewducker]

Thank you for that!

[fred_mouse]

I've not yet read the article that you link, but I know that there are ongoing issues with taking very australian media to the USA. We have a well known children's book (Possum Magic) which references a number of very Australian foods as an important part of the plot, and the initial response of the editors/marketers to putting it in to the American market was to ask for the food to be changed, because 'American children wouldn't understand it'. (I'm paraphrasing from a talk given by the author)

I have always assumed that this must be the case for other countries, given how often there are English and American editions of books.

[claudeb]

Well... cultural differences sometimes prove hard to translate, that's natural. But in most of the world we accept that and embrace it; we teach our kids to ask questions or, you know, reach for a book if they need to figure out the details. We infer things from context. Stuff like that. Americans however want everything explained and adapted just for them, up to and including cultural norms. (Or rather not ordinary Americans, but those who market media to them, and try to push their own agenda in the process.) I remember reading that the American edition of Night Watch — the Russian fantasy movie — changes among other things a piece of dialogue to make the protagonist's boss more like how Americans are expected to think of a boss. And that's scary. No way we can let people know our ways aren't the only ways!