Race and the Rise of Standard American

by Thomas Paul Bonfiglio

This study examines the effect of race-consciousness upon the pronunciation of American English and upon the ideology of standardization in the twentieth century. It shows how the discourses of prescriptivist pronunciation, the xenophobic reaction against immigration to the eastern metropolises- especially New York - and the closing of the western frontier together constructed an image of the American West and Midwest as the locus of proper speech and ethnicity. This study is of interest to scholars and students in linguistics, American studies, cultural studies, Jewish studies, and studies in race, class, and gender.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book in my class on "Language in Diverse Schools and Communities." It is a phenomenal account of the historical development of attitudes and norms about Standard English - why we think of people from the Midwest as sounding "normal" but people from other regions as "having accents."