| Governing the Tongue Contributor(s): Kamensky, Jane (Author) |
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ISBN: 0195090802 ISBN-13: 9780195090802 Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA OUR PRICE: $83.60 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: January 1998 Annotation: Colonial New Englanders would have found our modern notions of free speech very strange indeed. Children today shrug off harsh words by chanting "sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me," but in the seventeenth century people felt differently. "A soft tongue breaketh the bone," they often said. Governing the Tongue explains why the spoken word assumed such importance in the culture of early New England. Author Jane Kamensky re-examines such famous Puritan events as the Salem witch trials and the banishment of Anne Hutchinson to expose the ever-present fear of what the puritans called "sins of the tongue." But even while dangerous or deviant speech was restricted, Kamensky points out, godly speech was continuously praised and promoted. Congregations were told that one should ones voice "like a trumpet" to God and "cry out and cease not." By placing speech at the heart of familiar stories of Puritan New England, Kamensky develops new ideas about the relationship between speech and power both in Puritan New England and, by extension, in our world today. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Sociolinguistics - History | United States - Colonial Period (1600-1775) |
| Dewey: 420.974 |
| LCCN: 97010595 |
| Lexile Measure: 1520 |
| Physical Information: 0.92" H x 6.34" W x 9.51" (1.40 lbs) 304 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 17th Century - Cultural Region - New England |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Governing the Tongue explains why the spoken word assumed such importance in the culture of early New England. In a work that is at once historical, socio-cultural, and linguistic, Jane Kamensky explores the little-known words of unsung individuals, and reconsiders such famous Puritan events as the banishment of Anne Hutchinson and the Salem witch trials, to expose the ever-present fear of what the Puritans called sins of the tongue. But even while dangerous or deviant speech was restricted, as Kamensky illustrates here, godly speech was continuously praised and promoted. Congregations were told that one should lift one's voice like a trumpet to God and cry out and cease not. By placing speech at the heart of New England's early history, Kamensky develops new ideas about the complex relationship between speech and power in both Puritan New England and, by extension, our world today. |