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Novels

The use of Spanish elements in “This is How You Lose Her”

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The use of Spanish elements in “This is How You Lose Her”

“This is How You Lose Her” is a story written by Junot Diaz and unlike other literally works themed around immigration this particular story paints the image of a fragmented atmosphere which is created by the use of a voice-driven plot. The book is a collection of many stories which are not connected though they are all narrated the same person whose name is Yunior. Yunior has been the narrator in several other books written by Junot Diaz though this time he takes the form of a Dominican guy who is not only reckless but is also not capable of loving other people full-heartedly.  His life is turned into fragments whereby his past and present unfold in patterns and cycles instead of the usual progression found in most novels.

The author uses contrast in the different contexts as a way of bringing extra dynamic to the novel. There is extensive use of the Spanish language in the novel since Junot Diaz is an Spanish-American author who uses his literally works to bring out the issues that affect immigrants and in particular Spanish immigrants. As one reads through the different stories in the collection, it becomes clear that the author is proud of his Spanish background and he makes no attempt to hide this fact.

As a matter of fact the author’s use of Spanish language is extensively used in the novel especially in the form of Spanish slang and terms used commonly in the streets. As one reads the novel it becomes clear that the author is a minimalists who scraps and chisels his story into high quality essence and a maximalist who is able to flip between the highbrow and colloquial, switching of codes which creates a amazing piece of literature which is full of Caribbean phrases, playful pugilism of modern day street banter and black American local dialects. It is worth noting that the fluent mixing of other languages into properly developed works of English fiction has been a challenge for many writers especially those from immigrant and non-English speaking communities. However, this is not the case in this particular novel as the Spanish words in the novel are chosen carefully by the author which excellently provides and extra dimension to the novel’s characters without creating confusion among the readers.

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As a result of using two distinct cultural identities, it is possible that several words may lose meaning during the process of translation. In cognizance of this fact,  Diaz makes use of mother tongue instead of using long and wordy sentences to describe his actual feelings as a way of avoiding loss of meaning or unnecessary misinterpretations. By making use of native tongue in the novel, the author creates a deeper connection with his audience who become aware of his sense of double consciousness. Diaz immigrated to the United States as a young boy and he always felt that he was the product of sort of the mixtures and sort of the daily hustle of many cultures instead of being a product of one uniform culture. The constant switching between the two cultures; American and Spanish allows the readers to get a true sense of the Spanish words which have been used in specific contexts and the reader is able to think in the same way as the author. Furthermore, Diaz uses a lot of street slang in this novel to demonstrate to this readers the roughness of the immigrants lives such as Yunior and other Spanish folks who live in New Jersey.

Towards the end of the novel, in one of the last chapters the author uses the world “Invierno” to describe Yunior’s childhood in its entirety. The word “invierno” is Spanish for winter. As described in the novel, Yuniour, his mother and brother immigrated to America at a time when there was an sever northeast winter.  Even the freezing winter temperatures were no comparison their father who was a cold blooded man as confessed by Yunior when he admits that “a father is a hard thing o compass”.  As described in the novel, Yunor’s father often spent most of his time in the US, where he worked hard to save up money. While he was in America, Yunior’s father would leave his family behind in a very dirty and poor neighborhood which was known as Santo Domingo. Due to his absence from home, Yunior has very fuzzy childhood memories of his father. According to him as a young boy, his father was just a strange mane who took a busted-up taxi to their house and occasionally brought toys that were too old that they immediately broke down. It is no wonder that the author choose to use the Spanish term for winter to describe Yunoir’s childhood.

Yunior regards himself as “Papi” which is Spanish slang for a real macho man and this view of himself enables him to get by in the harsh neighborhood that is New Jersey. Most of the characters in the novel such as Yunior and his brother Rafa have names and nicknames that are derived from Spanish. By making use of such Spanish names that author enables his readers to visualize the Spanish cultural element in the characters.

In conclusion the author did great justice to the novel by incorporating several elements of the Spanish language into the story. Such elements enable the reader to connect with the Spanish roots of the characters in the story and this is a great way keeping the readers engaged into the literally work.

 

 

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