Why Do We Keep Using Minority Languages to Spice Up Fantasy Books?

By now, if you’re a fantasy-lover who’s on TikTok, you’ve probably seen this stitch.

In the above link, a Scottish BookTocker named Muireann (username: ceartguleabhar) tears Fourth Wing author Rebecca Yarros a new one for her pronunciation of the Gaelic names used throughout her book.

If you haven’t heard of Fourth Wing, it is a new fantasy novel taking TikTok by storm. The book involves dragons, so it appeals to every audience in the world. I don’t know anything else about it other than that it’s popular, and that the author has made the grave mistake of pissing off a Scottish woman.

Truthfully, Muireann is very diplomatic as she addresses Yarros pronunciations. First, Yarros calls the language she uses “Gay-Lick” (which I believe refers to Irish Gaelic) rather than “Gall-ick” (which would refer to Scottish Gaelic). These two languages are very distinct from one another, and to confuse the pronunciation is the first hint that Yarros may not know much about the language she pilfered from.

As the TikTok continues, Muireann addresses how Yarros consistently mispronounces the names she’s given the characters in her book. These aren’t simple mispronunciations, either. At times, it seems like Yarros is saying a completely different word to the true pronunciation. It’s quite jarring, and shows how little she actually knows of Scottish Gaelic.

This begs the question, why use this language at all if she’s so unfamiliar with it? As Murieann points out (and, having not read the books, I must take her word for it), the rest of the novel doesn’t really draw from Scottish culture. It seems odd to pepper your book with a real-life language to add more of a fantastical appeal when the rest of the book is not based on or set in that culture.

Muireann ends the TikTok by making the point that authors should not be drawing from foreign languages (especially minority languages) just to add some pizazz to their novels. It’s a lazy technique that treats a real language, history, and culture like it’s only fantasy.

Another (in my opinion, less egregious) example of an author who has been criticized for her use of foreign language in her books is Leigh Bardugo. If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you likely know how much I love the Six of Crows duology. Considering that I’m not a Slavic speaker, I had no qualms with the words she uses in the book or how she uses them. I think your typical American English speaker probably wouldn’t know that there’s anything wrong with Alina Starkov being a girl, Morozova being a male name, and the use of the term “Grisha” to refer to a group of people.

Unfortunately, any Slavic person reading these novels (which are a fantasy take on imperial Russia) would notice errors in the language usage right away. For instance, the last names should be gendered. Meaning, Alina Starkov should be Alina Starkova. Similarly, it should be Morozov for a male, rather than Morozova. As for the term “Grisha”, this is actually akin to the name “Greg” in English. All the Slavic people reading Bardugo’s novels are wondering why she’s calling her magical fantasy people “Gregs”.

Because the books are set in a fantastical version of imperial Russia, I think it’s easy to see why people are annoyed by Bardugo’s lack of research into the language. It would not be difficult to find out a few of the basic rules so that she uses the language correctly, but seemingly she nor anyone on her team could be bothered.

While I don’t think these language issues are poorly intentioned, the laziness is almost more offensive than if there had been bad intentions. Why do we think using a foreign language is the proper way to add mystique or intrigue to our fantasy novels? And, when we do so, why are author’s neglecting to at least ensure their using the language correctly?

I think these are really great examples of the appreciation vs. appropriation argument. Someone who truly appreciates Scottish Gaelic would know how to properly pronounce the words and names being used. Without this knowledge, the person is cherry-picking cool sounding words to “spice up” their book. That falls under the category of appropriation.

I also think this is more obvious when we look at minority languages of non-white people used in books. If Rebecca Yarros had sprinkled random Swahili words throughout her book with no reference to African peoples or culture, it would be a lot more obvious how strange that is. However, because fantasy has a history of using minority white language in its writing, it may not seem as egregious as it should.

Of course, that’s not to say that we can’t draw from foreign languages or cultures for inspiration, but there is certainly a line where inspiration turns to ignorance. Cherry-picking random words of a real-world language to use for your fantasy world is lazy, and it sends the message that this real-world language only exists as fantasy, to you, the writer.

Had Yarros set her novel in a fantasy Scotland (and done more research on Scottish Gaelic), no one would take issue with her novel. Or, had she said she took inspiration from Scottish Gaelic to form fantasy names of her own and created names that you would not find in Scottish Gaelic (but maybe have similar vowel sounds or something), I don’t think anyone would take issue with that either.

Having said that, there can be problems with drawing from a real-world culture and completely misrepresenting that culture or its people. For example, in the Nevernight series, Jay Kristoff creates a group of people loosely based on Maori culture, but they’re known in this world as brutes and savages. Before I address that, can you see why someone from that culture may take issue with this?

In the novel, these brutes are called Dweymeri, they have face tattoos, specific rites and rituals, and come from the islands. In the novel, they are portrayed as a threatening people who often take women by force and are not well-favored by the “modern” world. In a deleted tweet, Kristoff did say the Dweymeri were based on the Maori people, but he quickly walked this back amid backlash. He now claims there is no association, although it’s blatantly obvious there is.

The issue is not that his characters have face tattoos, nor that they’re a seafaring people, but that they’re described in every way as seemingly Maori. It’s like he was looking at a picture of a Maori tribe as he made these descriptions, and then later said “Actually, it’s not based on them at all.”

Obviously there are going to be bad characters in novels, and these characters may be people of color, but for your only group of persons of color in your novel to be brutish rapists based on a real-life indigenous culture is wildly problematic. More thought, compassion, and ORIGINALITY, would have let Kristoff avoid this issue altogether.

It’s the deliberate ignorance that is so grievous for readers. Not taking a quick moment to learn that all of your name pronunciations are vastly incorrect (and also having the audacity to say, “Well, this is how ‘I’ pronounce them), or not doing a quick Google search to check if “Grisha” actually means anything in the language you’re drawing from shows a blatant disregard for the intelligence of your audience and the support you may gain from readers outside the U. S.

This ignorance and laziness, in my opinion, tells readers of other cultures and ethnicities, “I’m not writing this for you, I’m writing this for my U. S. audience who also knows nothing of your culture. In fact, I’m going to create preconceived incorrect notions of your culture, and I don’t care about that or else I’d have done more research.”

In essence, don’t use random words from another language just to make your writing sound cooler. If you’re going to borrow from another culture or language, make sure you understand the connotations of what you’re borrowing. Or, use it as inspiration to create your own fantasy take on this culture so that you’re not creating problematic tropes or stereotypes for the real-world culture you’re drawing from.

Do your research, Google stuff, and have some consideration for others beyond yourself and your immediate audience.

The Lit Wiz


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