Dialogue, Not Dialect

I mentioned in an earlier post that I refuse to use dialect to differentiate a character's dialogue. Having written this I have to admit that I'm using the word dialect improperly; in my defence it's how I was taught to describe the phenomenon in question.

What I'm really talking about is a certain authorial attempt to render, in prose, the sound of a different accent. That's the word linguists use to describe the way some people pronounce a certain language—though I should add that according to Wikipedia, some linguists do use the word dialect to encompass differences in pronunciation. And sometimes what I'm talking about here encompasses both pronunciation and vocabulary (and even grammar).

The reason I refuse to use this method of writing dialogue is that I think it's insulting and offensive. To say nothing of getting in the way of the reader's comprehension.

It is perfect possible for an author to convey a character's mode of speech without having to go phonetically berserk: if I write a person saying the phrase "That's sure enough right, Master," I think I am getting across the essence of the character more effectively than if I wrote "Thas sho' nuff raht, Massa." To say nothing of treating the character in question with a bit more dignity than the alternative would.

I once received a short-story submission, for an anthology I was co-editing, that featured such aggressively phonetic a dialect-cum-speech pattern for the main characters that I was forced to reject it even though the story was otherwise a good one. (And the author has since gone on to make something of a name for themself.) I suppose this falls under the category of Personal Preference, but it's a preference I feel quite strongly about. As a rule I don't read novels that do this to their characters.*

Does anybody actually write this way anymore?

*Not that I want to keep harping on Georgette Heyer here, but she has been providing a substantial portion of my fictional calories this month. And one of the books I reread this month, The Unknown Ajax, provides an excellent example of how to use grammar and vocabulary—Yorkshire, in this case—to show a character's manner of speech without being condescending. In fact, Hugo's way of speaking plays an important role in defining his character to the reader.