Declaring Independence: Jefferson, Natural Language, and the Culture of Performance

by Jay Fliegelman

A Stanford University Press classic.

Genres: History, American Revolution, Language

290 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1993

Reviews

[Andee Nero · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way that Fliegelman uses primary sources is amazing. I also appreciated that this book draws together a lot of the cultural source material that I have personally been examining over the past few months.
However, this isn't a book that can be read alone in order to understand the Declaration of Independence. This is a great work on the performance of the document, both in its stylistic construction and in its delivery, but, if you want to understand the content of the message, this book will only get you so far. Read alongside Bernard Bailyn's Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, you would get a better overall sense of what the Declaration really means. Still, after reading Fliegelman, I will certainly not be able to look at that document as a static text again.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beginning with a laser-close-textual-reading of Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence—focusing on the demarcated pauses as evidence of its spoken and performative purpose and meaning—Fleigelman places the elocutionary act of declaring at the center of a contextualized study of revolutionary America. In 1776, he argues, the role, meaning, and performance of public speaking was transforming to one of natural language, self expression, moral truth, and community building, reflecting ongoing tensions in political and cultural history as this new country separated itself from England and sought to not only unify its citizens, but organize them via a governing body and the governed.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic deep investigation of the literary and cultural context of the Declaration of Independence, shedding new light and giving insight into the deeper meanings of the literary and historical allusions in the document. Critical reading for those who wish to understand the document in proper context of its time, rather than looking backwards from a time when the document is seen as the "original source" that is often alluded to, rather than taking into account that much of the Declaration references other events and commonly-known works of the 18th century.

[Craig Lauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thesis professor and all around amazing man.