Shakespeare's Language
In Shakespeare’s Language, Keith Johnson offers an overview of the rich and dynamic history of the reception and study of Shakespeare’s language from his death right up to the present. Tracing a chronological history of Shakespeare’s language, Keith Johnson also picks up on classic and contemporary themes, such as:
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- lexical and digital studies
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- original pronunciation
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- rhetoric
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- grammar.
The historical approach provides a comprehensive overview, plotting the attitudes towards Shakespeare’s language, as well as a history of its study. This approach reveals how different cultural and literary trends have moulded these attitudes and reflects changing linguistic climates; the book also includes a chapter that looks to the future. Shakespeare’s Language is therefore not only an essential guide to the language of Shakespeare, but it offers crucial insights to broader approaches to language as a whole.
Keith Johnson is Emeritus Professor of Linguistics and Language Education at the University of Lancaster, UK. He is the author of The History of Early English (2016) and Shakespeare’s English (2013).