The Grammar of Empire in Eighteenth-Century British WritingThis study explores the complex role of language as an instrument of empire in eighteenth-century British literature. Focusing on the relationship between England and one of its "Celtic colonies," Scotland, Janet Sorensen examines how the expansion of the British empire influenced the formation of a national standard English. The book demonstrates the ambivalence at the heart of British linguistic identity, moving from a close analysis of Scottish writers Alexander MacDonald, Adam Smith, Hugh Blair, and Tobias Smollett to a revised understanding of the language use of Samuel Johnson and Jane Austen. |
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Contents
Scripting identity? English language and literacy instruction | 28 |
Tobias Smolletts | 104 |
polite language and its originary | 138 |
William Shaws Scots | 172 |
Epilogue Jane Austens language and the strangeness at home | 197 |
Notes | 224 |
283 | |
303 | |
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The Grammar of Empire in Eighteenth-Century British Writing Janet Sorensen No preview available - 2005 |
Common terms and phrases
aesthetic alien ambivalence ancient Anglo-British argues Austen's novels Blair Britain British nation Cambridge University Press Celtic Celts century character characterizations cited claims colonial construction context corrupt Critical critique Derick Thomson describes dialect difference discourse distinct Edinburgh University eighteenth eighteenth-century empire England English language feminized figure foreign Gaelic language gender glossary guage Highlands Humphry Clinker ideology imperial grammar instance Jacobite Jane Austen John Johnson's Dictionary Latin letters linguistic practices London Lowland Lowland Scots MacDonald meaning national identity national language nationalist native nature oral Ossian Oxford particular peripheral poems poetry polite position produced readers regional relationship rhetoric Robert Samuel Johnson Scotland Scots Gaelic Scots Gaelic language Scottish Literature sense Shaw Shaw's Smith social Society space spatial speak speakers SSPCK standard English status structure Studies style suggests theories tion Tobias Smollett Tom Nairn tongue trans translation understanding universal grammar usage women words writes York