El español de Santo Domingo.

[juancarlos]

I have read about Pedro Juan Gutierrez, but I have not had the opportunity to read one of his novels yet. I have read some reviews in Spanish newspapers and an interview in Cubaencuentro- an internet Cuban page. Do you know where he lives, I am not sure whether he lives in Europe or is still in Havana. I think one of his novels was something like The King of Havana?
Could you list some titles so that I can search for them at the local library? I read in an interview that he said he spent time in my hometown in Cuba where he had an aunt, but I really don't know who he is, except by reference. I know he's good because that's what people have been saying.

You are also a very good observer and listener. You are right. At first, Caribbean speech or accent sound "the same", but later you learn to tell the differences and, in the case of Cuba, the supression of the r and l are its trademark. You gave the best example in the word "verdad".

[mariel]

I once had for hobby to read the newspapers and look for grammar mistakes. And there were like a dime a dozen sometimes.

I just wanted to say that this is a great thread and i've learnt a lot of my language, which is important for me atm because i'm learning swedish and there's plenty of grammar i have to memorize and, most importantly, understand why this is like that, etc.

Tordok's quote is more or less how i feel right now hehe.

Originally Posted by Tordok

It was more like "just because I speak with an accent doesn't mean I think with one".

[Lesley D]

Juancarlos,

(and everyone),

Pedro Juan G is living in Europe. That was the only way he could get his books published. I have read all his novels thus far and as mentioned they are exemplary in many ways. When I started reading his literature last year I had know idea of who he was but shortly after I began I was intrigued and captivated by his vocabulary and syntax. His writing style reveals the essence of Cuban Spanish. Meaning colloquialisms, slang, sentence structure etc. but at the same time they do not interfere with the quality of his literature.

I recommend the following titles:

Nada que hacer
Anclado en tierra de nadie
El Rey de la Habana *****
Trilogia sucia de la Habana *****
Animal Tropical
Carne de perro

I would like to start reading more Dominican literature (from the island) but in the meantime Cuban authors have mesmerized me and it's also an indirect way of learning more about the culture and Spanish spoken in Cuba. In my opinion the works of Dominican-American authors are not up to par. The quality of the Spanish does not compare to the works of Cuban authors that I have read and I think part of the reason is because it's translated literature and as a result there is plenty of translation loss. The Dominican-American authors that I have sampled thus far are: Julia Alvarez and Junot Díaz but as I said they do not hold a candle to Pedro Juan Gutiérrez or my absolute favorite Cuban author thus far Daína Chaviano. If I had to describe her works in a few words I would say: "es fiel exponente de la literatura cubana". I highly recommend her works as well.

Good luck finding the titles I have listed.


Regards,

Lesley D

Originally Posted by juancarlos

I have read about Pedro Juan Gutierrez, but I have not had the opportunity to read one of his novels yet. I have read some reviews in Spanish newspapers and an interview in Cubaencuentro- an internet Cuban page. Do you know where he lives, I am not sure whether he lives in Europe or is still in Havana. I think one of his novels was something like The King of Havana?
Could you list some titles so that I can search for them at the local library? I read in an interview that he said he spent time in my hometown in Cuba where he had an aunt, but I really don't know who he is, except by reference. I know he's good because that's what people have been saying.

You are also a very good observer and listener. You are right. At first, Caribbean speech or accent sound "the same", but later you learn to tell the differences and, in the case of Cuba, the supression of the r and l are its trademark. You gave the best example in the word "verdad".

[juancarlos]

Originally Posted by Lesley D

Juancarlos,

(and everyone),

Pedro Juan G is living in Europe. That was the only way he could get his books published. I have read all his novels thus far and as mentioned they are exemplary in many ways. When I started reading his literature last year I had know idea of who he was but shortly after I began I was intrigued and captivated by his vocabulary and syntax. His writing style reveals the essence of Cuban Spanish. Meaning colloquialisms, slang, sentence structure etc. but at the same time they do not interfere with the quality of his literature.

I recommend the following titles:

Nada que hacer
Anclado en tierra de nadie
El Rey de la Habana *****
Trilogia sucia de la Habana *****
Animal Tropical
Carne de perro

I would like to start reading more Dominican literature (from the island) but in the meantime Cuban authors have mesmerized me and it's also an indirect way of learning more about the culture and Spanish spoken in Cuba. In my opinion the works of Dominican-American authors are not up to par. The quality of the Spanish does not compare to the works of Cuban authors that I have read and I think part of the reason is because it's translated literature and as a result there is plenty of translation loss. The Dominican-American authors that I have sampled thus far are: Julia Alvarez and Junot Díaz but as I said they do not hold a candle to Pedro Juan Gutiérrez or my absolute favorite Cuban author thus far Daína Chaviano. If I had to describe her works in a few words I would say: "es fiel exponente de la literatura cubana". I highly recommend her works as well.

Good luck finding the titles I have listed.


Regards,

Lesley D

Thank you Lesley, very good information. I'll look for them. I've also heard of Chaviano too.

[Lesley D]

Tordok,

When I first read your comment I agreed with your points completely but today's newspaper errors made me reflect even more on your post. In general, I have always heard that the writing level of an average daily newspaper ranges from grades 3-5 because the target audience is so diverse therefore the newspaper has to be a source of information for all. Well, I started reading el Listin Diario and the first article I read was ladened with errors which may substantiate unconfirmed sources that the problem stems anywhere from incorrect colloquial speech, to education, to editing, to lack of writing skills. In one article today here are a few that I found:

1) Mónika Sánchez, encargada de Plan Directo del Ayuntamiento del Distrito Nacional, explica que las ventas en las calles está [s/b están] planteando el tema de la defensoría del espacio público.

2) Señala (Mónika Sánchez) que una solución del problema [s/b al problema] puede ser la incorporación de estas personas a otros mercados.

3) Ya las personas no llegan a su trabajo o a donde vayan sintiéndose igual, sino agresivo y contrariado [s/b agresivas y contrariadas ] porque en el fondo no queremos ser así.

-actually this sentence has other problems but I am staying focused on the grammar.

This was just one article and the errors are all grammatical. The paper should be a good reading source for the population especially students who are encouraged to read etc. but this is not a good reflection of quality reading material. As an experiment I think I will start to read newspapers from two or three other countries (I usually do but now with a closer eye) just to compare. I think it will be interesting to evaluate the quality of Spanish in el Listin Diario and compare it to other daily Spanish newspapers from Latin America.

Again just food for thought.

-Lesley D

Originally Posted by Tordok

Lesley,
You've been amazing on this thread. Thanks for all the germane examples of usage etc.... I was due for a refresher course on language and this is about as good as it gets.

Re. the Dominican press: for as long as I can remember, the written mass media in the DR has been dichotomous. Op-ed pieces and special reports are usually well constructed and on occassion, almost literary. But the typical reporting pieces leave a lot to be desired. These are often filled with deficient lexicon, improper conjugations, substandard style, and a plethora of typographical errors that at times make these simply illegible.

I do think that the educational level of the scribe is a major factor. Many op-ed pieces are contributions from "old-school" journalists, and/or professional leaders from other disciplines (physicians, writers, lawyers, historians, engineers,educators, economists,etc). The news pieces on the other hand are written by the foot soldiers (news gatherers) who are often lowly paid and lack the depth for writing with analytical substance or in a grammatically correct manner. At least that's my impression.

- Tordok