New World Babel by Edward G Gray

New World Babel by Edward G Gray

This text presents a cultural and intellectual history of the languages spoken by the native peoples of North America from the earliest era of European conquest through the beginning of the 19th century. It focuses on different aspects of the Euro-American response to indigenous languages. By focusing on different aspects of the Euro-American response to indigenous speech, the author illuminates the ways in which Europeans' changing understanding of "language" shaped their relations with Native Americans. The work brings to light early America as a place of enormous linguistic diversity, with acute social and cultural problems associated with multilingualism. Beginning with the 16th and 17th centuries, the author shows that European explorers and colonists generally regarded American-Indian languages as a divine endowment that bore only a superficial relationship to the distinct cultures of speakers. He demonstrates how, during the 18th century, this perception gave way to the notion that language was a human innovation, and reflected the apparent social and intellectual differences of the worlds people.

"Gray [covers] a vast range of very diverse material, much of it unknown and unread by modern scholars"—Anthony Pagden, The Johns Hopkins University
"A substantial contribution to American intellectual history and to our understanding of how white presumptions shaped the attitudes toward Indian language and culture."—Kenneth Cmiel, University of Iowa

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780691017051
ISBN 10	0691017050
Title	New World Babel
Author	Edward G Gray
Series	Princeton Legacy Library
Condition	Unavailable
Publisher	Princeton University Press
Year published	1999-04-04
Number of pages	190
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.