JE NE PARLE PAS L’ANGLAIS, BUT YES, I PLAY QUIDDITCH A brief look at the existence of a language barrier within the IQA
T BY KATIE STACK
THE IQA IS RAPIDLY EXPANDING throughout the US and abroad, with the first annual quidditch convention (QuidCon) in Chicago in July and an exhibition tournament for the Olympics in the UK in July. The nonprofit organization currently boasts official member teams from eight different countries and five different languages. IQA official member teams speak not only English, but French, Spanish, Chinese, and Finnish. Unofficial quidditch teams span more of the globe and express themselves in a number of different tongues, including an unofficial team interviewed for this article with Italian as its first language. With such worldwide popularity, the question arrises of how best to satisfy non-US teams, especially those who do not share the English language. In an increasingly globalized world, foreign exchange is valued more highly than ever before. The influx of new ideas results in a rich collaboration, and interaction with foreign cultures is often argued to increase both international understanding and individual empathy. These goals mesh well with the IQA’s inspiring mission of community, creativity, and competition. In the same way the IQA strives to overcome gender 32
Quidditch Quarterly • Summer 2012
inequalities, the organization is attempting to bridge geographical and cultural gaps. Yet there is concern that IQA publications available only in English will prove to be a problem, and that it may be already. Foreign teams say no, but IQA staff members say yes. After speaking with both parties, it seems that the difference in language has not been a barrier so far for those who would like to play the sport of quidditch, but it is a hindrance to its spread across the globe through the press and various social media outlets. On the international playing field, a variety of phrases can be heard. The Qwertyians QC (Tijuana, Mexico), the only official Mexican team, commonly shouts “¡pásala!” and “¡cuidado!” for “pass the ball!” and “look out!” The match starts with “¡escobas arriba!” and “¡la snitch está suelta!” At Italian matches, it’s common to hear “nemo fioi” and “tira” as players encourage their teammates with a hardy “let’s go boys” and “shoot!” said Enrico Higginbotham, captain of the Quidditch Club Provincia di Venezia (Venice, Italy). The team’s optimistic yet violent motto is in their native tongue as well: “Anca se no vinxemo, spacheremo un fia de capocie,” which translates to “even if we don’t win we will break some heads.” Fortunately for the new sport, the love of Harry Potter—the protagonist of the famous book series by J.K. Rowling on which the sport of muggle quidditch is based— is universal. The Harry Potter books have been translated into 73 languages and so
quidditch teams can easily use the athletic terms in the books as they interpret the IQA rules. “We use the same terms [as the book] in order to have consistency between fantasy and reality and to have a reference to the context of the game,” said Ingrid Vezy, of the Anthena muggle quidditch team (Lesparre, France). Each team claims at least one fluent English speaker, and most team members have the ability to understand English to an extent. These English skills are necessary because the teams do their best to adhere to the current IQA rulebook, published only in English and Italian. Most teams have translated the rulebook into their native tongue. “We of course use the IQA rulebook. We have translated it into Chinese. It’s pretty difficult, because it’s a new sport and it’s in English,” Jenny Wang, captain of Hangzhou Foreign Language School quidditch team in China, said. She explained that the team captains do the translating and rules interpretation; most of the players learn the rules through live play and through videos the new Chinese team has filmed themselves. None of the teams feel as though the language barrier has at all hindered their comprehension or enjoyment of the sport. They admit that it would be a little easier to have rules clarifications translated in their language—many of the IQA rules rely on specific syntax to explain technical details. Each team, however, has enough players