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My problem now:
Okay, so I'm working a job adapting a novel to comic book format. I can't say what and for whom yet, because the contract is still being nailed down, so hypothetically speaking, here's my problem:
There is, especially early in the book, a lot of blingualism. The book features a bunch of English-speakers, but they have among them a guy that only speaks Polish.
So initially, I was planning on putting the < translated marks > around word balloon dialogue to show that it was being translated for the reader's benefit.
But then we get into these huge passages where the main character and the Polish guy have long conversations. Like, more than a page. And then the main character (who is fluent in Polish) actually goes and hangs around with more Polish-speakers for a while.
Normally, I'd say "just write everything in English and stick an editor's note early on in the issue that explains that the Polish is being translated for our convenience." But one of the plot points is that the Polish guy is feigning not knowing any English to lull other characters into revealing more than they should around him. And there's a big reveal when the Polish guy is all like "Ha! Little did you know I understood EVERY WORD YOU WERE SAYING!" in English.
So -- for emphasis -- I need to show this dramatic transition from Polish to English. But I'm getting shoehorned into putting pages and pages of dialogue in < > to show that the Polish conversations are, in fact, in Polish, and I'm worried it's going to look really ugly.
Suck it up? Font change? It's really also up to the artist to decide, ultimately, but I'm wondering if there's a cleverer way to go about this than pages of < translated dialogue>.
This is further complicated because in future issues, Our Hero goes on to have dealings with more people in EVEN MORE different languages. He's quite linguistically gifted, apparently. |
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