| "I agree." Originally Old French, which means centuries of history in educated English. Privileged. Unmarked.
"Word." Originally African-American, possibly from the 1980s. Unprivileged. Adopted/co-opted by internet web 2.0 subculture.
"This." I don't know when this came into use, but I think it is probably a Hispanicism, given that it is the literal and functional equivalent of "eso". Unprivileged. Adopted/co-opted by internet web 2.0 subculture.
Here is an interesting discussion about the use of I agree/word/this.
Maybe using "this" or "word" as affirmations is annoying because it's not much of a contribution to a discussion, but then how is "I agree" better?
Maybe using "this" or "word" as affirmations is annoying because it's co-opting other people's culture and/or demonstrating an allegiance to a different male-dominated web 2.0 subculture than the female-dominated fandom subculture.
Mostly using "this" or "word" as affirmations is annoying because it's unprivileged dialect usage similar to "y'all".
I'm seeing some unconscious privileging of traditional anglo word usage over African-American and Hispanic, and it's making me uncomfortable. I don't think adopting a word and using it in its original sense is the same as co-opting other people's cultures, though I admit poaching vocabulary can certainly be part of cultural appropriation. I do think reacting with disgust and wishing to minimize the usage of words adopted from unprivileged (sub)cultures reeks of FAIL. | comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment   |
| When I first started out in online fandom, it was a bad idea to admit to not having English as your first language. People would ignore your fic, assuming it to be poorly written, or they would interpret what you wrote in very strange ways, thinking you couldn't mean to say what you actually wrote, since you wouldn't understand what it meant.
After some years fandom had become international enough that a lot of people who had been passing as first language English speakers came out, some subtly by using their .de or .se email addys and website URLs, some boldly stating their first language.
But that's only English language fandom. ![[info]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png) rodo has posted this interesting poll about different language fandoms, and the language background of fans. Please take part, no essay questions, simple check boxes/radio buttons.
I've been passive in non-English language fandoms, such as Danish, French, German, and Japanese movies and TV shows, followed canon for English language media translated or dubbed, and even read fic and meta in Danish (Norwegian, Swedish), German (Dutch, Afrikaans) and Spanish (French, Portuguese, Italian, Latin).
I could imagine writing fic in Danish for a specifically Danish fandom, but most of the stuff I've felt fannish about has been aimed very squarely at kids, and I would feel weird and out of place writing adult fic in for example Freddy og monstrene. Some has been aimed at adults, and has an international presence, such as Riget and Little Soldier, and while I could write in those fandoms in Danish, that would needlessly restrict my already very small audience.
As for Swedish language fandoms like Alla vi barn i Bullerbyn and Mumintrollen which I've read exclusively in Danish translation, I could write fic in Danish, and other Scandinavians could probably struggle their way through it, but honestly I think English is more likely to be understood and appreciated.
I can't imagine writing a fic in German or Spanish. The few German fandoms I'm into have an international presence, and I'm not into any Spanish language fandoms.
Okay, now I've gotten all interested in Lindgren fic - the fantasy worlds she's created in Mio, min Mio, Bröderna Lejonhjärta and Ronja Rövardotter lend themselves excellently to fic, and don't have the drawbacks of unfamiliarity with the setting like Bullerbyn, Emil, Madicken and Kalle Blomkvist would have for non-Swedes (and young Swedes, maybe). | | comments: 31 comments or Leave a comment |
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