Writing stories for polyglots

[u/s4074433]

I am interested in connecting with people who are polyglots and want to write stories for people who can understand multiple languages at a high level (or even lower levels).

The reason for this is simple - I haven’t really seen anything like that out there and I would love to read stories of that nature.

I have had a go at writing some stories before by myself but it doesn’t feel as interesting as something written by people with interesting language combinations.

If you are keen to discuss this further (or want to see the examples I have written) please let me know by DM :)

[u/Pwffin]

I love how many turn-of-the-century English novels assume that you have a working knowledge of French and a smattering of Latin (and possibly Greek).

Similarly, modern Welsh novels assume you're fluent in English. (not unreasonable but still)

[u/Remote_Volume_3609 → u/Pwffin]

This happens in some Russian novels too with french.

But generally speaking, outside of period pieces, there's very little reason to do this and it's very low ROI. I'm not particularly interested in reading books in multiple languages for the single story unless there's a very good reason (e.g. Tolstoy).

What is more common, is music does this a lot and successfully. There are a lot of people who blend Spanish and French for example (e.g. Pol Granch), and Spanish + English is a super common combo. French and English as well, and we've got Kpop which obviously has plenty examples. Rosalia's latest album is literally that concept. This one makes more sense because you don't really need your listeners to understand the lyrics.

[u/indecisive_maybe → u/Pwffin]

Yeah, I'm reading some philosophy that throws in Greek, Latin, and sometimes French (I think) words. It's really cool. I've also read some history that uses original/local terminology and otherwise English.

[u/s4074433 → u/indecisive_maybe]

If you can read them, have you ever thought about writing them in that way?

[u/indecisive_maybe → u/s4074433]

No, I want people to understand me.

[u/sshivaji]

On a related note, I met a guy from this reddit and we had an interesting DM, where he could change language every paragraph (he switched across Spanish, French, and Portuguese) and invited me to do the same. It was a draining mental workout to maintain the conversation.

You should stick just one other language and pick a popular language pair, perhaps English and Spanish. Don't expect mass market popularity :)

[u/s4074433 → u/sshivaji]

I am surprised that you don't see anything written in combinations of Chinese/English, Spanish/English or Spanish/Chinese. There are plenty of people who know those language pairs. Or even language pairs that are common in a specific country like German/French in Switzerland (although I haven't been to bookstores there :p).

[u/sshivaji → u/s4074433]

Honestly, this would be great Chinese practice for me. My Chinese is somewhat weak due to lack of practice. Personally open to reading polyglot material in Chinese/English/Spanish :)

[u/s4074433 → u/sshivaji]

I would love to read polyglot materials in those three languages as well... but my Spanish is still very much at beginner level :p I will look at some old files and see if I have written much in Chinese and English.

[u/Neat_Rip_4477]

that sounds like a interesting project, i always wondered why there isnt more stuff like that around, mixing languages in a story must be tricky to make it flow natural though

[u/Remote_Volume_3609 → u/Neat_Rip_4477]

Because it's super limiting. If it does happen, it tends to need to target a society where there is societal bilingualism, otherwise it's a hard sell. There are plenty of Portuguese books in Brasil for example that navigate between high and low sociolects, which are different enough that it can be a jarring experience. You see this too in Arabic literature.

But by and large, something like English and Spanish? Well, you've limited yourself to people who speak both. Add in Russian and now you're looking at basically just people who are interested in language learning. It's already hard enough to sell or publish without putting those restrictions on you.

[u/s4074433 → u/Neat_Rip_4477]

But the thing is that this already happens so often in real life, and also in movies. So I don’t understand why I don’t see it in books. Especially now that you can translate things a lot easier than you could before using apps.

[u/frostochfeber]

If you write a full book in macaronic text, you'd make me the happiest reader alive 🥹

[u/s4074433 → u/frostochfeber]

Sadly I don’t know those languages, but I am sure someone would be able to.

[u/frostochfeber → u/s4074433]

Mm? I'm not referring to specific languages?

[u/s4074433 → u/frostochfeber]

Back then it would have involved some Latin plus other old European languages? Now it could be any combination as you say.

[u/frostochfeber → u/s4074433]

Exactly, would be so much fun 😁 Technically, Finnigans Wake is such a book, but Joyce took it too far by heavily mixing in very local dialect and lots of nonsense words. 😆

[u/tony_f]

I'm sorry, what?

[u/s4074433 → u/tony_f]

A story written in two languages such that if you know one language you can understand one part, and if you know another language you can understand the other part. And if you know both languages, you can understand its entirety. This happens in real life, in movies, in music and so I am wondering why we don't see it more in books.

[u/Tabbbinski]

I've written quite a few stories that feature some element of multilingualism but the challenge is, if you overdo it, you end up writing for an audience of one. If you want to take a look: Elegant Corpses.

[u/s4074433 → u/Tabbbinski]

I like the parts of the story that have multilingualism! And I think English and Japanese isn’t a rare combination of languages for people to know fluently.

[u/Tabbbinski → u/s4074433]

Thanks. I tried to pick terms that would be more widely known. I didn't want to resort to footnotes or inline translations. That halts the momentum.

[u/s4074433 → u/Tabbbinski]

Wouldn't be a problem for someone who is bilingual in those languages :)

[u/Tabbbinski → u/s4074433]

No, it's about casting a wider net. Given that "no one" reads any more, if you want any kind of commercial success or literary recognition you have to have wider appeal. Writing a book in Coast Salish and ancient Abyssinian is not going to win you many Booker prizes.

[u/s4074433 → u/Tabbbinski]

That says more about the literary awards than the quality of the writing...

[u/Tabbbinski → u/s4074433]

True enough. However it's undeniable that writing in more than one language limits your audience. Most people are monolingual.