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Q&A

Referring to people in a book

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I'm writing a book (travelogue) about Japan, comparing it to Sweden, where I'm from. During my travels I communicated mostly in Japanese but occasionally in English and Swedish. The book is in English with some words or expressions in Japanese that I translate and/or explain in English to convey some of the differences in language and culture.

I'm considering how to best refer to people I encountered while in Japan:

  • Swedish language: Very rarely anything but first name-basis.
  • English language: Last name-basis unless you have met.
  • Japanese language: Last name-basis unless you know the person intimately.

I prefer calling people by their first name, whether I met them or not, because I worry that the text would feel more formal if I called them by their last names.

I would like the writing to be playful and relaxed, at the same time I wouldn't want the book to be considered sloppily written or confusing thanks to the complexities involved.

Say I refer to someone I have not met by their last name as suggested in English, then I will still call them by their first name when quoted, since that's what I do. To make matters worse, Japanese people would call me by my last name despite the fact that we have already met.

Sometimes I refer to people who have inspired me, writers of the past with connections to what I'm doing or people that simply come to mind as I travel. Of course, other than translating the dialogues, I'm keeping them unchanged.

Example sentence: "It made me think of Alan Booth, who walked across Japan in 1977 and wrote the book “The Roads to Sata” detailing his experiences. Alan often spoke of [...]"

Here I think Booth sounds a bit formal, and Mr. Booth sounds very formal, but maybe it's just because I'm not used to it - the equivalent of Mr is rarely used in Swedish.

I know that the people I communicate with in English may have different customs in their countries, but I already feel that this is becoming complicated as it is, so I'm trying to find a good compromise.

What I'm looking for is a relaxed way to refer to people that I have and have not met or am familiar with/know intimately, that leaves room for a cultural flavor but is not likely to confuse the reader by being too incoherent.

EDIT/Clarification: The target market is English speaking countries in general, which largely excludes Sweden and Japan. I'm trying to write in American English, so I suppose the primary target is the USA if I had to pick one.

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This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/8367. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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Refer to people the way you think of them. If you think of him as "Alan," refer to him as Alan. If you think of your Japanese friend Goto Sumiko (where Goto is her last name) as "Goto," then use that.

Alternately, if Goto Sumiko goes by "Goto" but you always called her "Sumi Quatro" because you both love the singer Suzy Quatro, then by all means refer to her as Sumi Quatro in the text.

Just be consistent and clear, and identify everyone on first reference so the reader doesn't get lost.

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