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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticKersten, Holger
Title, AnalyticThe Creative Potential of Dialect Writing in Later-Nineteenth-Century America
Journal TitleNineteenth-Century Literature
Date of PublicationJune 2000
Volume ID55
Issue ID1
Location in Work92-117
ISSN0891-9356
AbstractHolger argues for more favorable evaluations of those texts produced from the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries that, to achieve their literary effects, availed themselves of the expressive potential inherent in unconventional language use. Written by authors such as Finley Peter Dunne, Charles Godfrey Leland, Thomas A. Daly, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Alexander Posey and others--names rarely listed in standard literary histories--these texts derived their appeal from the way they used language but also from the perspective their linguistic strategy created. Their linguistic virtuosity, their potential value as documents of folklore and linguistic diversity, and their significance in the development toward alternative forms of literary expression make them an unusual treasure in America's literary heritage.
NotesPrinted from PDF file
Call NumberMKI P2004-7
MKI TermsHumor & Satire/ Dialects/ German Americans/ Language, German (US) -- Dialects/ Linguistics/ Literature, American