Friday, 31 August 2012

Writing in English, Spanish and French

HOW WE WRITE IN DIFFERENT LANGUAGES


For me, writing in French is like a long, difficult journey :  when you finally arrive (and bear in mind you might get to a place that is totally different from the one you started out to) there is a great deal of satisfaction yet somehow you are unable to forget everything you have been through.  At the same time, maybe that is not such a bad thing because you don't write to forget something you write so you are able to remember.


Writing in English is similar to swimming in a huge Olympic - sized pool:  I know how to swim and I´m not exactly afraid but it is still a struggle to plunge into the deep end.  I know that pools are made for diving and the main thing is to find the courage to do it.

I can compare writting in Spanish to an expedition into an underground cave .  I´m always aware I have to carry some kind of light with me because I´m entering my deepest self  (It´s wierd, but my "English self" is more rational and less emotional and my "Spanish self") and there might be beautiful things there but it´s impossible to avoid the darkness that is all around .

1 comment:

  1. Hey Beatriz, I like the comparisons you make between writing in three languages and different experiences, while reading them, I imagine myself traveling, swimming and going into a cave. It really seems like you took th time to think about situations to compare your writing practice. In the last paragraph there is a sentence in parenthesis that is not clear for me because you started it as a comparison but then you finished with the conjonction (and) so, it is kind of confusing.

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