Voice and Diction

Hey y’all! I’ve been thinking about literary voice. I know every writer has a different voice, but what about using voice as a tool to set the scene? Like an extended form of dialogue?

This crazy thought spiral took me while reading some of Shalom Aleichem’s short stories (think Fiddler on the Roof). I was amused by the tongue in cheek humor of the narrator, but it wasn’t until I had closed the book and walked away that I realized the significance of another texture, so to speak, of the narrative diction.

The story was written with a lyrical Yiddish lilt, even though the words were in English. I heard the accent so strongly that I could not get Teive out of my head for two days. I have heard before how authors use careful word choice to paint the setting clearer- a latina mother misuses American slang, a young Austrian man calls a judge “Your Honesty,” a southern Grandma calls something “cattywompus” – but it has been years since I have read something so vividly accented all throughout.

So… How can we do that? Anyone notice this tool before? Or have experience in other languages, dialects, or just good literature? I want to try my hand at this. XD