Post History
Dialect writing was quite popular among authors in the 19th and early 20th century. Both Twain and Kipling indulged in it extensively. In an age where few had the opportunity to travel and there we...
Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed
by
System
·
2020-01-03T20:41:54Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28237 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:30:31Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/28237 License name: CC BY-SA 3.0 License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision
by
System
·
2019-12-08T06:30:31Z (over 4 years ago)
Dialect writing was quite popular among authors in the 19th and early 20th century. Both Twain and Kipling indulged in it extensively. In an age where few had the opportunity to travel and there were no movies to bring the sounds and sights of foreign lands to people, the appeal of the exotic in fiction (and nonfiction) was quite strong. It was the golden age of the circus for much the same reason. But dialect writing, whether it is reproducing the sounds or the vocabulary of local speech, is difficult to read, and modern readers have many other ways to experience the exotic flavor of any place or people they are interested in. Want local color? You will get more from watching Anthony Bourdain than you will from reading a book. So, regional diction writing seems to be much less in fashion these days, and most authors seem to avoid it entirely. When I have seen it done, it is done with a very light touch. All dialogue is artifice, and other forms of artifice can be used to get the point across about a character's origins, habits, or patterns of thought.
#1: Imported from external source
by
System
·
2017-05-23T12:19:24Z (almost 7 years ago)
Original score: 1