| Eloquence Is Power: Oratory and Performance in Early America Contributor(s): Gustafson, Sandra M. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0807848883 ISBN-13: 9780807848883 Publisher: Omohundro Institute and University of North C OUR PRICE: $40.38 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: August 2000 Annotation: 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. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Language Arts & Disciplines | Public Speaking & Speech Writing - Political Science | History & Theory - General - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics - Semantics |
| Dewey: 808.510 |
| LCCN: 99086591 |
| Series: Published by the Omohundro Institute of Early American Histo |
| Physical Information: 0.71" H x 6.14" W x 9.21" (1.07 lbs) 320 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: 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. |
Contributor Bio(s): Gustafson, Sandra M.: - Sandra M. Gustafson is associate professor of English at the University of Notre Dame. |