Hi,
Does anyone have experience in using Dramatica in a language other than English? I read here (http://dramatica.com/questions/can-dramatica-be-used-to-write-in-other-languages-say-spanish) that this should be no problem. Still, I would like to understand how it can’t be a problem. Any insights on this? Appreciate it. Henk (from NL)
No, Dramatica is not specific to the English language. Dramatica is specific to the human mind and as such, can be translated into any tongue. In fact in some cases, the English language runs deficient in its ability to accurately portray a story element.
For instance, in the Psychology Domain you’ll find two major story elements labeled Playing a Role and Changing One’s Nature. The original terms for these two points were Being and Becoming, respectively. With English, it can be hard to decipher the actual difference between being something and becoming something. And to many they seem interchangeable.
Spanish does a much better job of defining the differences between these two. Both Ser and Estar mean “to be”, but in different ways. Ser pertains to identity and can sometimes be thought of as something permanent. I am beautiful and She is a boring person provide examples of this verb in action. They also illuminate what Dramatica means by Becoming–an element meant to identify who you or who is changing their essential nature.
Estar differs by establishing states of being, condition, or location, and is referred to as the Present Progressive. I look pretty or She is bored describe a temporary transitive state. This is what Dramatica means by Being–an element meant to temporarily establish the emotional, physical, or mental state of our being.
Practically speaking it shouldn’t be a problem to use the Gist feature of Dramatica Story Expert as a temporary band-aid to facilitate a foreign language. If interested, contact me and we can work out the details.
I know it’s not totally relevant, but I’m going to take a quick detour into ser and estar, because I think they are useful concepts for becoming and being.
I don’t like thinking of those two verbs as a way of distinguishing things that are permanent and things that are temporary. I like to think of them as things that are fundamental and things that are localized. (Localized probably isn’t the best word, but I can’t find another one at the moment.)
Ser is what you use to describe what is fundamental to something.
If someone is a doctor, if someone is American or Dutch, if someone is tall – that’s “ser”. Shaquille O’Neill wouldn’t be Shaq if he were short – it’s a necessary quality of his. Now take the doctor. If that doctor is bloody, we don’t use “ser” to capture that because being bloody doesn’t change what is fundamental here: the doctorness of the doctor.
So thinking about what is fundamental works well with Becoming because it gets at a fundamental essence. (Unfortunately Becoming implies a change into something, whereas “ser” captures a truth independent of any change. This implication is the drawback to using English here.)
Estar I’ll explain another way. It comes from the Latin for “to stand”, as in, “I’m standing by the door.” The reason I like thinking of it, and of Being, this way is because it puts the focus on where you are. Yes, it’s likely temporary – just like standing by a door is temporary. But when someone tells you where they are standing, the focus is put onto where they are, not how long they’ll be there.
So, yes Ser/Estar are good to think about, but I prefer this way of doing it.
Thanks a lot for your clear insight on this matter, Jim. You’ve convinced me: I will become a Dramatica-user.
Henk
Thanks for your response, does this mean you’re using or have tried Dramatica in Spanish? Henk
No, I’m an English speaker (who grew up in Mexico).
Glad you’re going to become a user. It pays off.
There are several Dutch speakers here, btw.
Estar is the verb used for location, as taught in beginning Spanish classes. (Senior Auditor, here) Ser is something that will not change, that kind of fundamental. Isn’t estar used for what is, but for what is that can change? In that sense it could be a possibility of becoming.
What is a possibility of becoming?
That’s not how it works in Spanish or in Dramatica.
For example, Being does not necessarily precede Becoming.
Thanks MW. Any idea where they are hiding out?
Hallo, welkom.
I understand what you’re saying, Henk. When I use Dramatica, the reports are a mixture of English and Dutch. But remember that none of this output will literally find a way inside your final product anyway.
Another hurdle can be that some of the Dramatica-words are not very common English words. Remember that Dramatica has it’s own dictionary, so this is a hurdle for the native English speakers as well. I thought about making my own translated Dramatica dictionary, but that wasn’t solving anything; it would only mean I had to learn both the official Dramatica dictionary and my own translations.
Like @jhull suggested, a translation of the Gists could be helpful though. These are in an XML file; you have to be a bit nerdy to dare modifying them. The biggest problem is the quantity, though. It is a tedious job to translate them all. But it can be done. Wasn’t there a German Gists file somewhere?
I’m from Rotterdam, btw. Shoot me a PM if you want to exchange thoughts about this in Dutch.
Hi Henk, welcome
I prefer to discuss Dramatica in English. It partly frees me from my built in bias. I sometimes use other languages, French, German and Spanish the same way Mike, James and Prish do. It helps me to calibrate definitions and concepts. My partner and I even discuss D in Dutch. Double Dutch that is. But for me going Dutch is a bit like removing the appendix through the nose (which famous director am I quoting?)
The difficulty I had and have with understanding the definitions and applying the concepts is because of my built an and aqquired blind spots and justifications. They hinder my analysis. Therefor my partner and I discuss Dramatica in Latin. That frees our built in biases. We continue to practice. Discussing these terms really helps. You can always PM in Dutch. But I suggest an alternative approach:-). Discuss definitions and concepts in English in this community.
Hope this helps.
AJ
Hi Terry,
Thanks a lot for your encouraging response. Will definitely fire some PM’s in your direction once I get started!
Feyenoord 4ever,
Henk
Hi AJ,
Haha, removing the appendix through the nose, eh, Paul Verhoeven? It seems Dramatica has dramatically improved your language skills, what a bycatch if you can discuss D. in Latin! Reassuring to know Latin is still spoken outside the Vatican. Thanks for your suggestions. I’ll get started.
Henk
Anytime! Again feel free to video \ voice chat. Talking a lot about it really helped me. BTW: It was Billly Wilder.
A bene placito
AJ
Has any of you noticed that it is not possible to use upper ascii in Dramatica Story Expert? I for example tried to type ‘intuïtie’ and it became ‘intutie’ so I tried ‘intuitie’ instead to make it a bit less wrong.
Dutch obviously uses more of these accents than English, but it must be really hard to use French or some Eastern European language in Dramatica. Not to mention the languages that depend on Unicode.
If I type ‘intuïtie’ in another application and paste it over to Dramatica, it seems to work fine however.