Governing the Tongue: The Politics of Speech in Early New England [Paperback]

Jane Kamensky (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0195130901 | ISBN-13: 978-0195130904 | Publication Date: February 18, 1999

Governing the Tongue explains why the spoken word assumed such importance in the culture of early New England. In a work that is at once historical, socio-cultural, and linguistic, Jane Kamensky explores the little-known words of unsung individuals, and reconsiders such famous Puritan events as the banishment of Anne Hutchinson and the Salem witch trials, to expose the ever-present fear of what the Puritans called "sins of the tongue." But even while dangerous or deviant speech was restricted, as Kamensky illustrates here, godly speech was continuously praised and promoted. Congregations were told that one should lift one's voice "like a trumpet" to God and "cry out and cease not." By placing speech at the heart of New England's early history, Kamensky develops new ideas about the complex relationship between speech and power in both Puritan New England and, by extension, our world today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'Speech history' is a topic scarcely imagined as recently as a few years ago. But now, with Jane Kamensky's pathbreaking new book in hand, scholars and students of the American past must take it very seriously indeed. With the utmost care, with great interpretive finesse, and in consistently sparkling prose, Kamensky shows us a new side of that venerable target--colonial New England--and provides as well an excellent model for other studies of other places."--John Demos, Yale University

"Jane Kamensky's Governing the Tongue is a fascinating study of the spoken word in seventeenth-century New England. At once meticulously researched and elegantly argued, it combines trenchant analysis with writing so lively and fresh that it is a must read not only for early American scholars but for anyone interested in an absorbing account of the relationship between speech and power."--Carol Karlsen, Harvard Divinity School

"Recovering the sounds in our silent sources is one of the most challenging tasks facing historians. Jane Kamensky has been enormously resourceful in her seeking and finding an astonishing range of ways to do this. Recreating the pervasive ranked-and-gendered hierarchisms of early America for our epistemically equalitarian world is another daunting task which Jane Kamensky has most persuasively accomplished. This is a highly original work that synthesizes of a vast body of historiographical and theoretical scholarship into a compelling narrative--for which readers will be immeasurably grateful."--Rhys Isaac, LaTrobe University, Melbourne, Australia

"Governing the Tongue is an orignal piece of scholarship. And the gravity of the discussion is leavened by Kamensky's occasional what-do-I-think-is-happening questions, which have the welcome effect of making the reader a participant in her historical quest."--Boston Globe

"This intelligent book about the power of speech indeed provides a new perspective on some of the major events of the colonies' first decades."--Times Literary Supplement

About the Author

Jane Kamensky is Assistant Professor of American History at Brandeis University and author of The Colonial Mosaic: American Women, 1600-1760 (OUP, 1995).

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 18, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195130901
• ISBN-13: 978-0195130904
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #146,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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