Awards

• Commended for Myers Outstanding Book Award, The Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights in North America 2003 (United States)

Overview

The demand of white, affluent society that all Americans should speak, read, and write ""proper"" English causes many people who are not white and/or middle class to attempt to ""talk in a way that feel peculiar to [their] mind,"" as a character in Alice Walker's The Color Purple puts it. In this book, Sonja Lanehart explores how this valorization of ""proper"" English has affected the language, literacy, educational achievements, and self-image of five African American women - her grandmother, mother, aunt, sister, and herself. Through interviews and written statements by each woman, Lanehart draws out the life stories of these women and their attitudes toward and use of language. Making comparisons and contrasts among them, she shows how, even within a single family, differences in age, educational opportunities, and social circumstances can lead to widely different abilities and comfort in using language to navigate daily life. Her research also adds a new dimension to our understanding of African American English, which has been little studied in relation to women.

Full Product Details

Author:   Sonja L. Lanehart
Publisher:   University of Texas Press
Imprint:   University of Texas Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.90cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9780292747296

ISBN 10:   0292747292
Pages:   264
Publication Date:   01 June 2002
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Part One. The Narratives: Peculiar to Your Mind Our Languages, Our Selves Maya: It Doesn't Bother Me Grace: I Always Wondered If My Life Would Have Been Different If Reia: Searching for My Place Deidra: A Mother's Love Is the Greatest Love of All Sonja: I Had to Do What I Wanted to Do Part Two. The Analyses: Surreality Maya: I'm Comfortable Like I Am: Grace: If I Could've Gotten into a Trade School Reia: I Am Proud of Myself Deidra: I Was Hiding. I Didn't Know. I Was Scared Sonja: I Had a Positive Experience The Rest of the Story Appendix 1. Participants' Possible Selves Data Appendix 2. Participants' Speech Samples Data Appendix 3. Participants' Language and Literacy Ideologies Data Notes Bibliography Index

Reviews

"""This book is a major achievement by one of the brightest young scholars in the field."" Geneva Smitherman, author of Talkin That Talk: Language, Culture, and Education in African America"

This book is a major achievement by one of the brightest young scholars in the field. Geneva Smitherman, author of Talkin That Talk: Language, Culture, and Education in African America

Author Information

Sonja Lanehart is a professor of linguistics in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona.

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