Ilan Stavans (editor) - The Peoples Tongue: Americans and the English Language

From Noah Websters first American dictionary and Paul Laurence Dunbars rendering of African American vernacular English as a poetic diction, to the multiplicity of Englishes registered on social media today, our national language is loud, disjointed, and comprised of irresistibly rhythmic polyphonic beats. Ilan Stavans extraordinary anthology invites us to see and reassess our reservoir of words that define the full range of American English, from countless disciplinary perspectives. This volume is destined to become an essential companion to future generations. Stavans, whose work on Spanglish has opened new scholarly paths, has made a major contribution to the vibrant, and still unfolding history of the English language.

HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

All the contradictions and contests of American identity are right here, in American English. What a tremendous compendium this is, and what a storythe story, in word after word, of our glorious, polyglot democracy. Just fabulous!

GISH JEN, AUTHOR OF THE RESISTERS AND THANK YOU, MR. NIXON

After reading this incredible, historically deep, insightful collection The Peoples Tongue, I want to run and forge a new poetry, a true all-encompassing, unabashed, language muralheart-sharpened and nerve-inkedfor all. I want to rhyme and stomp to the timbres and beats of Zora Neale Hurston, Natalie Diaz, Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Chang-Rae Lee. I want to be the American I have always been, brother of all the Americans I have met on the Laureate road and heard singing in their own tongue on every soulful corner of every state of this nation. Bravo!

JUAN FELIPE HERRERA, U.S. POET LAUREATE EMERITUS

Ilan Stavans The Peoples Tongue is a wonderful and vital addition to the often-contentious debates around language. This brilliantly curated collection might be the most timely and important anthology to emerge out of these troubled times.

DINAW MENGESTU, AUTHOR OF ALL OUR NAMES AND THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS THAT HEAVEN BEARS

What a treatwe get to listen in at a gathering where Anne Winthrop talks to Kendrick Lamar while Noah Webster chats with Jhumpa Lahiri about what it means to be American. Anyone whos passionate about language will love this account of 450 years of American English in all its swaggering, poetic, rowdy, multi-ethnic, funny, touching, vulgar, beautiful, angry, silly, and profound glory.

JACK LYNCH, AUTHOR OF THE LEXICOGRAPHERS DILEMMA

The Peoples Tongue is a vibrant, eclectic ride through the English language. This vital anthology, which brings together over 500 years of poems, speeches, and arguments as well as rap lyrics, tweets, and comedy routines, will spark many rich discussions about the power of language and the nature of democracy, but more importantly, will connect readers to diverse voices with something to say. The Peoples Tongue belongs in writing and literature courses, reading groups, book clubs, and in the hands of any reader who wants to build the future by reflecting on the past.

GRACE TALUSAN, AUTHOR OF THE BODY PAPERS

There are few remaining threads that bind Americans to each other and to their past. The English language is one of them. That too is contested, and in this invaluable and timely anthology, Ilan Stavans has chosen powerful examplesfrom our Founding Fathers to our finest novelists to our latest punditsthat confirm how central our ever-changing language is to our national character.

JAMES SHAPIRO, AUTHOR OF SHAKESPEARE IN A DIVIDED AMERICA AND PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

At a time when America is fractured and riven by dissolutions, here is a succulent feast of words for us all. An indispensable, amazing compendium of foundational texts that made me want to sing out, channeling Woody Guthrie, this is your book and this is my book, this book was made for you and me.

ARIEL DORFMAN, AUTHOR OF DEATH AND THE MAIDEN AND HOW TO READ DONALD DUCK

What writer hasnt felt the sting of purists who invoke the rulebook for correct English? In his highly accessible anthology, The Peoples Tongue, Ilan Stavans does us all a tremendous service by documenting how the English language has been enriched through rapid evolution, constant innovation and an openness to the magnificent diversity of our culture.

MARTY BARON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR (RETIRED), THE WASHINGTON POST

Like Igor Stravinsky, Frank Zappa, and Charlie Parker, Ilan Stavans is a machine of endless innovation. Now he brings us a jazzy anthology that will delight, surprise, and unsettle readers. The Peoples Tongue is an invaluable guide through the history and understanding of American English, a language that glues together this motley nation of 330-plus million souls. It confirms what we always knew: that our language exists through improvisation.

PAQUITO DRIVERA, GRAMMY AWARD WINNER AND 2005 NEA JAZZ MASTER

AMERICANS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Edited by Ilan Stavans

RESTLESS BOOKS

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Copyright 2023 Restless Books

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted without the prior written permission of the publisher.

First Restless Books hardcover edition January 2023

Hardcover ISBN: 9781632062659

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022946319

Cover design by Derek Thornton

Text design by Tetragon, London

Printed in the United States

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This work is published with support from David Bruce Smith, Grateful American Foundation

Dean and Annette Cycon and Terry Philip Segal.

1. Anne Winthrop
2. Robert Smith
3. John Adams
4. Thomas Jefferson
5. Noah Webster
6. Lydia Huntley Sigourney
7. Alexis de Tocqueville
8. Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet
9. Sojourner Truth
10. Abraham Lincoln
11. Bret Harte
12. Mark Twain
13. Jos da Fonseca and Pedro Carolino
14. Walt Whitman
15. Emily Dickinson
16. Richard Henry Pratt
17. Paul Laurence Dunbar
18. Simon Pokagon
19. Ambrose Bierce
20. Henry James
21. Mary Antin
22. William L. Harding
23. Theodore Roosevelt Jr.
24. H. L. Mencken
25. E. E. Cummings
26. Henry Roth
27. Thomas Wolfe
28. Zora Neale Hurston
29. Abel Meeropol and Billie Holiday
30. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
31. Martin Minoru Iida
32. Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz
33. E. B. White
34. William Faulkner
35. Dr. Seuss
36. Dwight McDonald
37. Bob Dylan
38. Leo Rosten
39. Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney
40. Adrienne Rich
41. James Baldwin
42. Isaac Bashevis Singer
43. Sugarhill Gang
44. John Ashbery
45. Russell Hoban
46. Richard Rodriguez
47. Samuel Ichiye Hayakawa
48. Gloria Anzalda
49. Julia Alvarez
50. Amy Tan
51. Tony Kushner
52. Toni Morrison
53. Chang-Rae Lee