Unscripted America

Indigenous Languages and the Origins of a Literary Nation

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, American, Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Linguistics
Cover of the book Unscripted America by Sarah Rivett, Oxford University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Sarah Rivett ISBN: 9780190492588
Publisher: Oxford University Press Publication: October 27, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press Language: English
Author: Sarah Rivett
ISBN: 9780190492588
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Publication: October 27, 2017
Imprint: Oxford University Press
Language: English

In 1664, French Jesuit Louis Nicolas arrived in Quebec. Upon first hearing Ojibwe, Nicolas observed that he had encountered the most barbaric language in the world--but after listening to and studying approximately fifteen Algonquian languages over a ten-year period, he wrote that he had "discovered all of the secrets of the most beautiful languages in the universe." Unscripted America is a study of how colonists in North America struggled to understand, translate, and interpret Native American languages, and the significance of these languages for theological and cosmological issues such as the origins of Amerindian populations, their relationship to Eurasian and Biblical peoples, and the origins of language itself. Through a close analysis of previously overlooked texts, Unscripted America places American Indian languages within transatlantic intellectual history, while also demonstrating how American letters emerged in the 1810s through 1830s via a complex and hitherto unexplored engagement with the legacies and aesthetic possibilities of indigenous words. Unscripted America contends that what scholars have more traditionally understood through the Romantic ideology of the noble savage, a vessel of antiquity among dying populations, was in fact a palimpsest of still-living indigenous populations whose presence in American literature remains traceable through words. By examining the foundation of the literary nation through language, writing, and literacy, Unscripted America revisits common conceptions regarding "early america" and its origins to demonstrate how the understanding of America developed out of a steadfast connection to American Indians, both past and present.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In 1664, French Jesuit Louis Nicolas arrived in Quebec. Upon first hearing Ojibwe, Nicolas observed that he had encountered the most barbaric language in the world--but after listening to and studying approximately fifteen Algonquian languages over a ten-year period, he wrote that he had "discovered all of the secrets of the most beautiful languages in the universe." Unscripted America is a study of how colonists in North America struggled to understand, translate, and interpret Native American languages, and the significance of these languages for theological and cosmological issues such as the origins of Amerindian populations, their relationship to Eurasian and Biblical peoples, and the origins of language itself. Through a close analysis of previously overlooked texts, Unscripted America places American Indian languages within transatlantic intellectual history, while also demonstrating how American letters emerged in the 1810s through 1830s via a complex and hitherto unexplored engagement with the legacies and aesthetic possibilities of indigenous words. Unscripted America contends that what scholars have more traditionally understood through the Romantic ideology of the noble savage, a vessel of antiquity among dying populations, was in fact a palimpsest of still-living indigenous populations whose presence in American literature remains traceable through words. By examining the foundation of the literary nation through language, writing, and literacy, Unscripted America revisits common conceptions regarding "early america" and its origins to demonstrate how the understanding of America developed out of a steadfast connection to American Indians, both past and present.

More books from Oxford University Press

Cover of the book Bodies of Evidence : The Practice of Queer Oral History by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Six-Legged Soldiers by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Faith and Freedom by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book The Language of Fraud Cases by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Richard Posner by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Moral Sentimentalism by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book A Little History of Canada by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Speaking Rights to Power by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Changing Media, Changing China by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Cold War Friendships by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Mathematics and Scientific Representation by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Mendelssohn:A Life in Music by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book The Music of Joni Mitchell by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Backpacking with the Saints by Sarah Rivett
Cover of the book Green Phoenix by Sarah Rivett
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy