Overview

Through the work of poets such as Luci Tapahonso, Laura Tohe, Rex Lee Jim, Gloria Emerson, Blackhorse Mitchell, Esther Belin, Sherwin Bitsui, and many others, Webster provides new ways of thinking about contemporary Navajo poets and poetry. Intimate Grammars offers an important ethnography of speaking, ethnopoetics, and discourse-centered examinations of language and culture. Based on more than a decade of ethnographic and linguistic research, Webster’s book explores a variety of topics: the emotional value assigned to various languages spoken on the Navajo Nation through poetry (Navajo English, Navlish, Navajo, and English), why Navajo poets write about the “ugliness” of the Navajo Nation, and the way contemporary Navajo poetry connects young Navajos to the Navajo language. Webster also discusses how contemporary Navajo poetry challenges the creeping standardization of written Navajo and how boarding school experiences influence how Navajo poets write poetry and how Navajo readers appreciate contemporary Navajo poetry.

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9780816534197

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By way of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, the author can reveal things about published and performed poetry that go beyond the critical approaches applied by literary scholars. Dennis Tedlock, author of 2000 Years of Mayan Literature

""One of the most powerful contributions of Intimate Grammars is the in-depth analysis of American Indian English.""--Journal of Anthropological Research ""This fascinating work is a natural follow-up to the author's earlier book, Explorations in Navajo Poetry and Poetics. Its goal is to further the examination of contemporary Navajo poetry and the output of selected Navajo poets in order to explicate what is being said in these poems. The overarching messages are to learn to listen and respect diverse languages and ways of speaking, and to challenge your own biases toward others and the diversity of languages.""--Charlotte J. Frisbie, co-editor of Navajo Blessingway Singer: The Autobiography of Frank Mitchell, 1881-1967 ""By way of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, the author can reveal things about published and performed poetry that go beyond the critical approaches applied by literary scholars.""--Dennis Tedlock, author of 2000 Years of Mayan Literature

By way of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, the author can reveal things about published and performed poetry that go beyond the critical approaches applied by literary scholars. Dennis Tedlock, author of <i>2000 Years of Mayan Literature</i>

Author Information

Anthony K. Webster is a linguistic anthropologist and associate professor in the department of anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the author of Explorations in Navajo Poetry and Poetics, as well as numerous articles on Navajo language, ethnopoetics, and culture.

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