Heteroglossia is the use of different forms of language within a single text, often found in works of fiction. It can create meaning and inform readers about the social and cultural context of the work. It requires skill and knowledge from the writer to use it effectively. Mikhail Bakhtin, a Russian linguist, emphasized its significance in novels and other forms of fiction writing.
Heteroglossia is the idea that different forms of language can exist within a single cohesive text. This is the case for some types of text communication, but not for others. For example, it would usually be improper for a piece of technical writing, a business plan, a public notice to include more than one dialect or type of language. The common types of text that may include more than one linguistic form or dialect are largely works of fiction, including novels, plays, and short stories.
The term heteroglossia can be traced back to a Russian linguist named Mikhail Bakhtin. Bakhtin emphasized the significance of novels and other forms of fiction writing that have multiple dialects or language forms mixed together. A work by Bakhtin from the 1930s whose title translates as “discourse on the novel” points to some of the ways in which heteroglossia can have an effect on communication.
One theory regarding heteroglossia is that multiple dialects or voices within a narrative can work with or against each other in specific ways. The contrast between these voices, according to many literati, is part of what creates meaning in a novel or similar work of art. Academics who ponder or study this idea can provide many different examples of how these uses of different voices can inform readers about the political, cultural and social context of the work.
In identifying this linguistic phenomenon in fiction, the student should start with omniscient fiction. This narrative should not change from one part of the text to another in terms of voice or dialect. Within this larger narrative, other voices emerge, mostly as individual character voices. Even a character can have multiple dialects or voices, according to his intent. Heteroglossia in fiction tends to highlight the use of multiple forms of language in societies using formal or informal means of address, local or regional dialects, or any other change of language for religious, cultural or social reasons.
One aspect of heteroglossia is that using it correctly requires some skill and knowledge on the part of the writer. When writers fail to use heteroglossia in a technically correct way, much of the effect of the novel or piece of writing starts to break down and can even become offensive; for example, an understudied or exaggerated attempt to reproduce dialect speech might be interpreted by some as a sign of prejudice. Effective use of heteroglossia, however, is part of the writer’s greater task of providing realistic and authentic context for the reader.
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