tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post5238550859426847195..comments2024-03-29T07:41:53.958-06:00Comments on La Bloga: Trinidad Noir, Cheech & ChonContributing Bloguistas:http://www.blogger.com/profile/13054190814722049711noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-68894925790920184532008-06-25T12:18:00.000-06:002008-06-25T12:18:00.000-06:00Michael, I like the way you phrased your father's ...Michael, I like the way you phrased your father's health condition, "He's shutting down now." That's the same sentiment my aunt Maximina Landa Sanchez said to me, in Spanish when she was preparing to pass away at the grand old age of 102! She said, "Ya estóy toda quebrada. Sique adelante por mi!" Your dad's way of saying it seems more poetic, though.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the advice on code switching. I usually use it for the purposes of inclusion. That's what my mother taught me to do. But when I got into the Chicano movement, my fellow Chicano poets and agitators taught me to use code switching to empower La Raza. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the offer to write a column about why and how I code switch. But I'm trying to spend as much time as possible rewriting my novel,"Cuca's Conundrums." Maybe I'll learn as I write.<BR/><BR/>nlfnorma landa floreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09108402534099552414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-77279659416849271482008-06-24T16:31:00.000-06:002008-06-24T16:31:00.000-06:00sabes que, norma, i like "emphas". now you have to...sabes que, norma, i like "emphas". now you have to use "emphas" in a variety of places to give it currency.<BR/><BR/>the issue of code-switching came up in the Latinos in Lotusland reading in Pasadena. One of the writers echoed my long-held belief that using untranslated, un'splained spanish is a strategy of inclusion/exclusion. he suggested there might be some hostility wrapped up in it, too.<BR/><BR/>there's a ton of rhetorical force in that both sides of that dialectic of inclusion/exclusion. (now the foregoing will be minimally explanatory to many readers despite the language being puro inglés. to draw out the content of "rhetorical force" and "dialectic" requires too much explanation, hence, leave the expression on its own. qed, untranslated spanish.)<BR/><BR/>glad you enjoy the code switched timesis. <BR/><BR/>We've discussed this strategy of multilingualism in the early days of La Bloga. There may not be a community of thinking on the subject.<BR/><BR/>Me, I'm casi totally against appositional translation, sabes, you know--like that--as well as opposed to the [i]italicization[/i] rule applied to foreignisms.<BR/><BR/>gente who get excluded by the use of a second language might be anglos or monolingual-in-english chicanas chicanos. the identification takes different dimensions for each. certain tipos might resent the absence of translations, a la "how dare the writer exclude me!". another, esp. the chicas patas reader, might feel pangs of loss in her his exclusion. <BR/><BR/>probably there's a lot of usefulness in footnotes, a glossary, or facing page translation. my preference, however, is to let the character talk or think in one's native fashion; no italics, not translation nor periphrasis.<BR/><BR/>sabes que mas, norma? why not put your mind and fingers to the subject and do a guest column on when, how, why you code switch con o sin translation? a ver que te parece.<BR/><BR/>ate,<BR/>mvs<BR/><BR/>p.s. my mom is o.k., my dad is shutting down now. pa'lla va la sombra, as my father likes to say.msedanohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09527530005391318421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-65362411794367763762008-06-24T15:03:00.000-06:002008-06-24T15:03:00.000-06:00Oops! I did a typo! I meant to type "emphasis" and...Oops! I did a typo! I meant to type "emphasis" and my pathetic arthritic fingers typed "emphas". Hey, maybe I coined a new Chicana term! Ha! Ha! Ha!<BR/><BR/>nlf<BR/> c/snorma landa floreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09108402534099552414noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9367921.post-34038890515042206012008-06-24T14:58:00.000-06:002008-06-24T14:58:00.000-06:00Thanks for the good health wishes, Michael. I hope...Thanks for the good health wishes, Michael. I hope your dad's health has improved.<BR/><BR/>The descriptive linguistic samples in your review of "Trinidad Noir" were very vivid. And it's true,Chicanas using dialogue in their writings, code-switch para que salga more authentic. The problem is that non-spanish speaking readers don't have a clue as to the meaning of the message. A few Chicana writers use footnotes. I find that disrupts the flow of thoughts and the character's intention for speaking.<BR/><BR/>I've tried using (these symbols) but it doesn't look cool to me. So I've settled on a communication clarification style of writing. My Spanish speaking character says the culturally important word as a form of emphas, so that the monolingual listener will understand the purpose of the message. In that manner, we perpetuate nuestra cultura, our culture India/Mejicana.<BR/><BR/>I suspect that you did too, Michael, when you presumed that La Bloga readers would understand that "absochingalutely" is the Chicano critic's translation of "supercalifristikexprialidocious!"<BR/><BR/>Okay, now. Will someone tell me how to handle the problema, problem, of mixing Spanish, Caló and Pochismos in my writings? Let's have an email symposium. Hórale!<BR/><BR/>nlf<BR/>c/snorma landa floreshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09108402534099552414noreply@blogger.com