By: hrugaar

hrugaar — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:22:00 +0000

breeching whale? Love it! My favourite example – though not a gaffe, quite the reverse – is J.R.R. Tolkien’s louver in the hall of Meduseld, the hall of the King of Rohan. The Riders of Rohan are as Germanic as they come, but louver came into English from Old French. So it implies that the Kings of Rohan have had some influence from an outside (non-Germanic) civilisation, presumably from their dealings with Gondor – much in the same way that in the reigns of later Anglo-Saxon kings (like Ed the Con) it was fashionable to follow French ideas and Art. So in other words, if you keep an eye on where your cross-cultural words come from, you can use them to make a subtle point – or even a jarring point or alarm-bell within the context of the fantasy culture of your world.

I think I’d have left the Kit-Kat Club in, too. It might jar the reader … but if he challenges it, he might learn something. 😀

By: Satima Flavell

Satima Flavell — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:45:00 +0000

I think foreign words that have been assimilated into English are fine. But *concepts* that belong to a particular culture, such as lotus position and ying/yang, would jolt me, big time. Even if they are English (e.g. Morris Dancing) they are foreign to a different world unless you’re sticking to an alternative England with no other input. If there’s the slightest doubt, I think you’re right to avoid them, as with “Kit-Kat” and “kids”. As you point out, the main thing is to help the reader sustain his or her suspension of disbelief. And a secondary consideration is to avoid misleading readers who have little knowledge of history or foreign cultures.

Comments on: Why I take notice of my beta readers even when I don’t agree with them…(2)

By: hrugaar

By: Satima Flavell