Language, Self, and Society. A Social History of Language. Edited by Peter Burke and Roy Porter with an Afterword by Dell Hymes.

Burke, Peter ed.; Porter, Roy ed.

ISBN 10: 0745607659 / ISBN 13: 9780745607658

Published by Cambridge: Polity Press,, 1991

About this Item

First published. vi,(2),358pp. Black paper coverd thick boards, gilt lettering to spine. 23.5x15.5cm. d.w.sl.chipped and sl.foxing. Edges and pages sl.foxing. (Contributors; Peter Burke, Nigel Smith, Hugh Ormsby-Lennon, Jo Gladstone, Patrick Joyce et al.) [L05141-607613].

Seller Inventory # 607613

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Language, Self, and Society. A Social History of Language. Edited by Peter Burke and Roy Porter with an Afterword by Dell Hymes.
• Publisher: Cambridge: Polity Press,
• Publication Date: 1991
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0745607659
• ISBN 13: 9780745607658
• Binding: hardcover
• Edition: First edition.
• Condition: good
• Dust Jacket Condition: fair

About this title

Synopsis

This important book examines the role of written and spoken language in shaping our sense of reality, in exchanges of social life, and in fashioning our sense of self. It develops a distinctive, socio-historical approach to these issues, offering a range of illuminating studies in the social history of language.

The first section discusses the history of specially charged languages (Latin, Hebrew, and the speech-forms of the Quakers). The second section examines the politics of language, paying special attention to dialect and the relations between the language of conquerors and the conquered. In the third section, the relation between forms of expression and the development of personal self-definition is discussed.

This key work will make a major contribution to the interdisciplinary study of language. It will be of interest to students and researchers in social history, linguistics, and the history and sociology of language.

From the Publisher

'The broad concentration upon a generally-neglected period of language history (the 17th and 18th centuries) is wholly welcome... Nigel Smith is fascinating on 'The Uses of Hebrew in the English Revolution' and Peter Burke's little sketch of post-Medieval uses of Latin is wide ranging and excellent.' The London Review of Books