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ITALICIZING "FOREIGN" WORDS IN BOOKS
I'm seeing convos on italicizing words that are not English in our stories/books. While I believe it's a personal choice that should be made by the author, I'll share why I choose NOT to italicize Arabic & transliterated Arabic in my work. 1/
I'm seeing convos on italicizing words that are not English in our stories/books. While I believe it's a personal choice that should be made by the author, I'll share why I choose NOT to italicize Arabic & transliterated Arabic in my work. 1/
Throughout my education, both undergrad & MFA program, my instructors required that I italicize and explain through text and include a glossary at the end of my stories. While I understood the benefits of the glossary... 2/
Italicizing and explaining a word every time my character spoke or included a word in Arabic was inauthentic to me and my characters. I recognized that my white peers/writers used italicization to emphasize something, while I was asked to make my "foreign" words stand out. 3/
It was explained that my American (see white) readers need to understand and feel comfortable picking up my work. I shouldn't alienate them. My work needed to be "relatable" to them. Basically, I was told that to succeed, my work needed to center white people. HARD PASS. 4/
As a writer of color, I'm not struggling on this journey so that white people can continue to be centered. While I enjoy sharing information about being Muslim/Arab, my purpose isn't to make others feel more comfortable with my existence by being a vessel of knowledge for them.5/
Everyone should read diversely. I hope my work will reach a large audience. But, stories by BIPOC aren't being written to serve the same white ocean of books. As POC, we've been taught to seek knowledge on our own when we don't understand European centered words & culture. 6/
If my writing is "too much work" for you, as someone once mentioned to me, that's okay. Not everyone has to be my audience. Reading is subjective & my work isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I enjoy reading books with other languages. The internet is always there to help.7/
All that being said, many POC do choose to italicize non-English words. I do respect writers who choose to italicize, but I hope it's a choice they are making for themselves and it's not being forced upon them, even subconsciously influenced, by those wanting to "other" them. 8/
I decided my work wasn't for them. I center Muslims, Arabs, and BIPOC Americans in my stories. For the ones that have been searching for themselves in white America. My work is for ME. I hope one day the beauty of unitalicized Arabic will be normal and celebrated by readers. 9/9
