Eloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America (Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture and the University of North Carolina Press) - Hardcover

Gustafson, Sandra M.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807825751 ISBN 13: 9780807825754

Publisher: Omohundro Institute and UNC Press, 2000

Synopsis

Oratory emerged as the first major form of verbal art in early America because, as John Quincy Adams observed in 1805, "eloquence was POWER." In this book, Sandra Gustafson examines the multiple traditions of sacred, diplomatic, and political speech that flourished in British America and the early republic from colonization through 1800. She demonstrates that, in the American crucible of cultures, contact and conflict among Europeans, native Americans, and Africans gave particular significance and complexity to the uses of the spoken word.

Gustafson develops what she calls the performance semiotic of speech and text as a tool for comprehending the rich traditions of early American oratory. Embodied in the delivery of speeches, she argues, were complex projections of power and authenticity that were rooted in or challenged text-based claims of authority. Examining oratorical performances as varied as treaty negotiations between native and British Americans, the eloquence of evangelical women during the Great Awakening, and the founding fathers' debates over the Constitution, Gustafson explores how orators employed the shifting symbolism of speech and text to imbue their voices with power.

About this title

Book Description

"In this careful and intelligent work, Gustafson returns oratory to its important political and cultural role in early America ."-- American Studies

From the Inside Flap

Sandra Gustafson examines the verbal art of speech in sacred, political and diplomatic forms as it was created and practiced in colonial America and the early republic. She demonstrates that, in the distinctly American interaction of cultures, contact and conflict among Europeans, native Americans, and Africans gave particular significance and complexity to the uses of the spoken word.

Edition details

• Publisher: Omohundro Institute and UNC Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0807825751
• ISBN 13: 9780807825754
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320