And how strange is that question? The World is The World, right?
Not exactly.
Ever since 7th grade Spanish, I’ve known that some languages associate masculine and feminine with items that in English are not gendered. A chair is just an inanimate object in English, but in Spanish it is la silla (feminine) and in German it is der stuhl (masculine). Just reading those words, you can feel the difference. La silla feels like a silk brocade sofa, over-stuffed and opulent. Der stuhl sounds like something I would use to reach the glasses on a high shelf: functional, utilitarian, probably made out of sturdy wood.
This fascinating NY Times article looks at the impact of language on how we think about gender, spatial orientation, and even the causal reality of our world. It amazed me to find how different languages impact the way its speakers think, not so much constraining them to think in a certain way, but narrowing their focus, emphasizing one set of features over another. Spanish speakers will emphasize the “manly” features of (masculine) bridges such as strength, whereas Germans will think of (feminine) bridges as more slender or elegant. English speakers are probably just hoping to get across without having it collapse.
Being a writer, a crafter of words, all this makes me think about how English has a certain egalitarianism to it that I never appreciated before. I can make my bridges burly and strong or shapely and artistic, and my language does not constrain me one way or the other. I can make my work as Masculine or Feminine as I wish. Which makes me wonder if my gender impacts my writing…a subject I will tackle on Monday.
But in the meantime, do you write (or think) in a different language? How do you feel that impacts your writing in English?
This is such an interesting question. I never got past basic Spanish and a splatter of French, so I can't answer about thinking in another language, but your post made me wonder how translators alter the mood/tone/meaning of stories with their choices of words. This is something an author wouldn't even know unless he/she spoke the other language.
Among English speakers, though, I've noticed that word choice can be wrong for a particular character. For instance, the word 'lovely' is feminine and not likely to be uttered by a teenage boy. I think our rough drafts may often use such words we snatch quickly before finding more accurate ones.
I've heard the gender does impact writing. I've followed some agents tweets where they discuss how a male voice in a story is obviously written by a woman.
Since I write romance and do both POV's, I like to think I can switch back and forth pretty well–but who knows?
~JD
I think it comes from English's status as a melting pot language of sorts — we've taken words from Latin, German, Spanish, French, Mandarin Chinese, and so on and so forth until the blend has made it so the language almost can't have that gender specificity.
Of course, I find it interesting that ships are typically "she," but musical instruments like guitars are "he." I wonder if that's an affectation carried over from earlier times.
I took two semesters of German in college and thought it was crazy to put female or male slants on words. But I never before thought about how it effects the natives of that language and how they view those objects. How interesting.
It's even crazier that different languages will put a different gender on the same word.
Makes me kinda happy I'm an English speaker so my car can be either a boy or girl as I so desire it to be!!
What a thought-provoking post! Thank you.
Hmmm…. I am not sure, it's an intriguing question, though. I honestly don't know which gender sways my writing more. I think more than gender, I tend to go spiritualistic than realistic. Not sure, though! Off to read the article! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
This question is too metaphysical for me π
I don't write in a different language but because I live in a Spanish speaking country, the language affects my writing. I need to be careful that my words don't take on another language.
CD
I've studied Russian and Spanish, and for a native English speaker I find it hard to remember what gender many items are supposed to be!
@Tricia You make an excellent point about translations – how can you ever really know? And I think you're right about the "automatic" word choice, but that's where edits can save the day. π
@Justine I've written male and female POVs in most of my stories too, and I agree it's not easy. But when an author nails it, it's awesome! π
@Matthew That's a great point about the melting pot! And musical instruments are masculine? I never knew…
@Linda It is intriguing isn't it? Even more strange is the part where native speakers of languages that have directions built into their everyday speech, so that something isn't "in front" of you, it's "north of your foot." So. Odd. π
@JW The article does a much better job of explaining all this! I hope you enjoy it. π
@Bane Sir, you crack me up. π
@Clarissa I know what you mean! I'm a language-chameleon – I take on the language nuances of speakers around me. I have to be really careful when I travel to the South. π
@Ted And you're surrounded by non-English-speakers in your RL – I can imagine that having an influence too! π
I think I definitely find myself writing in a masculine form. I'm working on it though π
@Ken It's not easy, no matter which way you swing! Stop back on Monday, when I'll be talking about Gendered Writing! π
You know, now that you mention it, I think I write more masculinely. Huh? I write with compassion like expected from a female character, but maybe living with four guys has influenced my writing. lol
@Sheri I totally write like a boy! π Stop back on Monday, when I'll be talking about Gendered Writing.
Ooooh, interesting. I love language. The idea of our language being gendered is a great one. I know when I'm critiquing for friends, I'll often mention whether their male MC is coming off too feminine for me. And it's not in the character – because the characters are almost always genuinely male. It's in the tone and the language they use to give voice to the character.
I'll have to think on this one some more. Thanks Susan! π
@Steph Exactly! Stop back on Monday, when I'll be talking more about Gendered Writing! π
I've only come across gendered language in class (learning German or Spanish) or grown up with it around me for so long (French) that I never think about it except in terms of homework and tests!
I never thought to look at it from a literary point of view; whether there are nuances that can be achieved in gendered language that can't in English.
Another strange thing is the few times I've tried to translate from Turkish to English. You can structure sentences in Turkish that don't directly mention the subject or the object; for instance, instead of saying "Your love is a like a red red rose" the Turkish version might be "(the) love is like a red red rose" – meaning the girl the poet loves, but not explicitly saying so. Not sure if that's the greatest example; I'll try to think of more!
Definitely an interesting idea…
I hopefully write in English…both American-English on some of my work and true English on my hf based in England. Working in a different period can almost be like working in another language (I would guess) because words have different meanings.
Have a lovely weekend Susan!
Cultural differences of any sort are fascinating to me. I've been intimidated by foreign languages ever since I nearly flunked high school French, but this was very interesting.
I never thought about how language could make a chair seem masculine or feminine without additional descriptives. When I read the Spanish for chair I saw a delicate chair with ornate yet spindly legs and a padded brocade round seat and oval back. Yet the German word evoked a Shaker-style heavy dark wood chair. Interesting.
I look forward to more on Monday. Yeah, very interesting! π
A subject I think about on a daily basis. Met a woman at back-to-school who's wondering whether to write her novel in French (her native language) or English (she's also fluent). I told her it might help to consider the subject of the novel and choose the best language for it. Good post, thanks.
@Deniz nuances Yes! I think that is it exactly – it's not so much that any language is constrained, but that they give a different nuance to the meaning of what's said. And as writers, our craft is wielding those kinds of nuances all the time. I can imagine that my teen love story would be very different in Turkish (as opposed to the bit of Polish I throw in there for flavor).
@Sharon I know a lot of British writers and have critiqued their work. It is an art to write fully in "American English" when you are British, and vice versa. I had no idea how many small changes there were (not just words, but grammatical structures and, yes, nuances), until I had to critique! It's an accomplishment when you can easily go back and forth! π
@Margo Me too! I end up putting small bits of a foreign language in almost every story I write, because I'm drawn to it. And yet, I don't speak anything fluently, except sometimes English. π
@DL It's cool that you had a similar reaction to the words for chair! This reminds me that language is such a deeply entrenched part of how we think, and how the mere sounds of words (rather than their meanings) can have meaning for us. This is the mysterious art of diction, which I haven't mastered, but gaze at with a kind of wonder. I def hope you will come back Monday – it's sure to be an interesting discussion with all my erudite commenters! π
@french-garret How tremendously cool to be able to pick the language that suits your story! Just as you might pick a POV or a setting. I love it! π
I have no idea if I write masculine or feminine. Maybe it depends on the book? But I remember learning French and words were either masculine or feminine – and I thought it was weird!
I'd forgotten about that – I had to apply myself while writing my last novel, to remember to use British English, since my MC was meant to be from England. I got away with not using slang since he travels back in time π but all his thoughts had to be in the right lingo…
@Laura Me too!
@Deniz OLD British English would be even tougher! That's why all my stories happen in the future. π
Not only that but I was crazy enough to send my character to Ephesus and Rome, so had to take a crash course in Latin…