Spanglish Now
Throughout the last few days I have had epiphanies about my novel. Always, the goal was to write a portal fantasy that subverted the expectations of the familiar narrative — there are no chosen ones, no complex magic systems. But lately, I have come to understand what it needs, what I really want out of this book. Even though I thought I was finished (evidently I am not), the time has come to once again plug in my headphones and get back to work. This time I am addressing the novel as a work of Latinx steampunk and dieselpunk.
Embracing my heritage was always difficult for me because I did not grow up speaking Spanish. I never felt like I had the right to call myself Mexican American. That has changed as I have aged, and the language in my novel, Lupo, is a Spanish-derived one. There are cognates and similar phonological inventories. I have gotten rid of the some of the Spanglish that characters speak, but I think now I will add it back in to add a flavor.
Steampunk and dieselpunk are lovely sides of the same coin. Steampunk has traditionally been associated with European aesthetics and dieselpunk with American. Writing a story with a large Hispanic cast is more than making sure everyone has a Spanish surname. There are folktales that I want to borrow from, stories from my heritage. There are scenes of Day of the Dead, people veering from one language into another, from Lupo to Spanish to English. Do I want to make a pidgin? It is all a part of the worldbuilding.
Choosing the language that characters speak is something of a daunting act. It can be a political act, too. Dialogue adds style and builds character, and if I have a cocktail of languages, I feel like it would add some degree of texture. That remains to be seen, but I am going to go for it.
The entirety of my book is in some ways an attempt to reclaim my family’s stories — on both sides. The characters in the fantasy realm have surnames that we find here in our own world, including Echevarria, Laurier, and Larribas. Larribas in particular was my family’s original last name; I have yet to find anyone else who has this as a second name.
Heritage is a fun thing to write about, too. My mother’s family is Southern and made moonshine during Prohibition. My father’s family is Mexican, and my grandma sang mariachi. I have a poem dedicated to these specific histories, but the thing is, I live in a family wrapped in diverse stories.
I’ve written in my journal about my hope to leave a legacy for my family, especially for my mother. My mom dreamt of leaving a legacy, and she did, one of beauty, creativity, and grace. My uncle is going to look at her writing, and hopefully as a family we can get an agent for her incredible body of work. Although Spanglish is a love letter to my Abuelita, picking up the pen is for my mom. It is a mingling of the many sides of my family.
That is really what this all comes down to. It is not a Mexican American steampunk because that is quirky, but because I am filtering all of story through the lens of myself. I think we all do that to some extent. Dualism is a huge theme in the book, and I had dual cultures growing up. It is a matter now of sewing them together on the page. For my mom.
