MLA First Book Prize winner
Tim Cassedy鈥檚 fascinating study examines the role that language played at the turn of the nineteenth century as a marker of one鈥檚 identity. During this time of revolution (U.S., French, and Haitian) and globalization, language served as a way to categorize people within a world that appeared more diverse than ever. Linguistic differences, especially among English-speakers, seemed to validate the emerging national, racial, local, and regional identity categories that took shape in this new world order.
Focusing on six eccentric characters of the time鈥攆rom the woman known as 鈥淧rincess Caraboo鈥 to wordsmith Noah Webster鈥擟assedy shows how each put language at the center of their identities and lived out the possibilities of their era鈥檚 linguistic ideas. The result is a highly entertaining and equally informative look at how perceptions about who spoke what language鈥攁nd how they spoke it鈥攄etermined the shape of communities in the British American colonies and beyond.
This engagingly written story is sure to appeal to historians of literature, culture, and communication; to linguists and book historians; and to general readers interested in how ideas about English developed in the early United States and throughout the English-speaking world.
鈥淭im Cassedy has one of the most nimble, creative, and curious minds among early Americanists today. The case studies in Figures of Speech are unexpected, fascinating, and brought strikingly (and often hilariously) to life in his writing. This book is a remarkable and rare achievement.鈥濃擧ester Blum, Penn State University
鈥淚n showcasing how figures like Duncan Mackintosh, Noah Webster, and Mary Willcocks experimented with linguistic innovations, Cassedy reveals how language can serve to preserve ties to a lost country or to fashion a new self in a foreign setting. I admire the strong narrative arc of each of the book鈥檚 chapters and also Cassedy鈥檚 sparkling prose style.鈥濃擩udith Pascoe, On the Bullet Train with Emily Bront毛: Wuthering Heights in Japan
