Stutter

Marc Shell

ISBN 10: 0674019377 / ISBN 13: 9780674019379

Published by Harvard University Press, 2005

About this Item

Leichte Kratzer / Abnutzungen / Druckstellen; Vergilbt / ausgeblichen. One person can't help stuttering; the other can't help laughing. This dynamic reflects the complex connection and disconnection between mind and body. The book delves into stuttering's practical, physical, historical, and existential aspects, as the author examines the struggles faced by the fifty million people worldwide who stutter. Despite their solitary journeys toward normalcy, stutterers share a bond with various speakers, both fluent and impeded. The narrative traces the evolution of stuttering perceptions, from the belief that it was "diagnosis-induced" to the recognition of its intricate physical and psychological causes. Through examples from popular culture, including figures like Porky Pig and Marilyn Monroe, the author illustrates how stuttering influences tone, narrative, and character development in literature. The text poses intriguing questions: Why does stuttering vanish during chanting? How does singing alleviate Tourette's verbal tics? How do stutterers navigate the inexpressible? Written by someone who has personally faced the challenges of stuttering, this thought-provoking exploration reveals the broader implications of stuttering on expression and the human experience.

Seller Inventory # da24f47b-003c-453c-8200-5ce90b7e4b40

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Stutter
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Publication Date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0674019377
• ISBN 13: 9780674019379
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Personal Growth

About this title

Synopsis

One person can't help stuttering. The other can't help laughing. And in the way one bodily betrayal of better intentions mirrors the other, we find ourselves in the gray area where mind and body connect--and, at the damnedest moments, disconnect. In a book that explores the phenomenon of stuttering from its practical and physical aspects to its historical profile to its existential implications, Marc Shell plumbs the depths of this murky region between will and flesh, intention and expression, idea and word. Looking into the difficulties encountered by people who stutter--as do fifty million worldwide--Shell shows that, however solitary stutterers may be in their quest for normalcy, they share a kinship with many other speakers, both impeded and fluent.

Stutter takes us back to a time when stuttering was believed to be "diagnosis-induced," then on to the complex mix of physical and psychological causes that were later discovered. Ranging from cartoon characters like Porky Pig to cultural icons like Marilyn Monroe, from Moses to Hamlet, Shell reveals how stuttering in literature plays a role in the formation of tone, narrative progression, and character. He considers such questions as: Why does stuttering disappear when the speaker chants? How does singing ease the verbal tics of Tourette's Syndrome? How do stutterers cope with the inexpressible, the unspeakable?

Written by someone who has himself struggled with stuttering all his life, this provocative and wide-ranging book shows that stuttering has implications for myriad types of expression and helps to define what it means to be human.

About the Author

Marc Shell is Irving Babbitt Professor of Comparative Literature and Professor of English at Harvard University.