Eloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America (Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture) (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture)

Sandra M. Gustafson

ISBN 10: 0807825751 / ISBN 13: 9780807825754

Published by The University of North Carolina Press, 2000

About this Item

287 pages. 9.50x6.50x1.00 inches. In Stock.

Seller Inventory # 0807825751

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Eloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America (Omohundro Institute of Early American History & Culture) (Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture)
• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807825751
• ISBN 13: 9780807825754
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: Brand New
• Weight: 0.67 kilograms

About this title

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 the Author

Sandra M. Gustafson is associate professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.