Democratic Eloquence tells the dramatic story of how Americans thought and argued about the English language between 1776 and 1900. The rise of a popular democracy in the early nineteenth century rudely challenged gentlemanly assumptions that only the well-educated should be able to speak in public. The popular challenge stimulated discussions about how grammars, dictionaries, even the English Bible should be written and what the idiom of a democratic society should be.
FREE Two-Day Shipping for students on millions of items. Learn more |
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"A carefully crafted, accessible sociological study of the politics of language." -- Peter I. Rose, Newsday
"A very inventive discussion of the public language of Americans . . . that relates issues of language to the larger questions of a democratic culture." -- Thomas Bender, Lingua Franca
"Democratic Eloquence is based on wide reading and much original research. . . . It will be rewarding for anyone with a serious interest in what the author himself terms the 'prehistory' of our time." -- Hugh Rawson, New York Times Book Review
"A very inventive discussion of the public language of Americans . . . that relates issues of language to the larger questions of a democratic culture." -- Thomas Bender, Lingua Franca
"Democratic Eloquence is based on wide reading and much original research. . . . It will be rewarding for anyone with a serious interest in what the author himself terms the 'prehistory' of our time." -- Hugh Rawson, New York Times Book Review
From the Inside Flap
"A penetrating account of the long debate about the kind of public language appropriate for a democratic society. . . . Cmiel manages to do justice to both sides."--Christopher Lasch, author of The Culture of Narcissism
"Every scholar interested in the English language will put this book next to Mencken and Baugh. It will be indispensable to writing the social history of English into the 20th Century."--Joseph Williams, author of Origins of the English Language
"Every scholar interested in the English language will put this book next to Mencken and Baugh. It will be indispensable to writing the social history of English into the 20th Century."--Joseph Williams, author of Origins of the English Language
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
There are no customer reviews yet.
|
|||
|
Video reviews
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Languages
- Books > Education & Reference > Words & Language
- Books > History > Americas > United States
- Books > History > Asia
- Books > History > Europe > England
- Books > History > Middle East
- Books > History > World
- Books > New & Used Textbooks > Humanities > History > United States
- Books > New & Used Textbooks > Social Sciences > Political Science > Public Policy
- Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Government > Public Policy
