Description
Book SynopsisThis first and only work of non-fiction by the author of two novels, two collections of short stories and a collection of poetry, has an accessible and conversational tone, which perhaps disguises its enormous ambition. It not only deals with the origins of language to argue its centrality to humanity and the naturalness of bilingualism and multilingualism, but examines how writing and printing built on that centrality to develop the "social mind" - the sum of knowledge within any given society. More recent technological changes have undermined the importance of language in society, and could possibly damage psychological health and society at large. All the arguments are couched in a sceptical approach, and the author principally wants to initiate a debate rather than give a defining analysis of a complex subject. Each chapter is introduced by a short story that illustrates the argument of that chapter.
Trade Review"...there is so much here that is important ... and his humanity so winning and welcome, ..." "A deeply reflective, extraordinarily wide-ranging meditation on the nature of language, infused in its every phrase by a passionate humanism" - Terry Eagleton "I like In Praise of the Garrulous very much indeed, not only because it says a good many interesting and true things, but because of its tone and style. Its combination of personal passion, observation, stories, poetic bits and serious expert argument, expressed as it is in the prose of an intelligent conversation: all this is ideal for holding and persuading intelligent but non-expert readers. In my opinion he has done nothing better." - Eric Hobsbawm "This is a brilliant tour de force, in space and time, into the origins of language, speech and the word. From the past to the present you are left with strong doubts about the Idea of Progress and our superiority as a modern, indeed at times post-modern, society over the previous generations. Such a journey into the world of the word needs an articulate and eloquent guide: Allan Cameron is both and much more than that." - Ilan Pappe; "Weaving effortlessly from classical literature to the modern day, In Praise of the Garrulous takes language back from the domain of the pedants and reinstates our proudest achievement at the heart of human society." - Lesley Riddoch "In Praise of the Garrulous is a diverting, chewy read, its tone simultaneously chatty, professorial and even vatic. There are some interesting ideas" - The Sunday Herald
Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Silence, like gold, is the currency of the powerful (an examination of the relationship between language and power) 2. The birth of language (the origins and language as means to story knowledge) 3. Words are a gift from the dead (language is the product of historical happenchance and the cumulative efforts of individuals over generations) 4. The creation of the social mind (the "social mind", a key concept in the author's argument) 5. Big is not beautiful, but merely more profitable (minority languages do the same things as dominant one, but the economies of scale are driving them into extinction) 6. Register (a neglected subject: the disappearance of register over the last thirty years) 7. The need for a lingua franca and its inherent dangers (powerful international languages are necessary lingua frances, but they are a danger to cultural diversity and themselves) 8. Conclusion
