The Dreadful Word: Speech Crime and Polite Gentlemen in Massachusetts, 1690-1776

ISBN-13: 9781009098908 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 338 str.

Kristin A. Olbertson

Opis

A fascinating study of how elite white men in eighteenth-century Massachusetts incorporated the ethos of politeness into the law of criminal speech.

Recenzje

'Early in the book, Olbertson quotes a source as complaining, 'The dreadful Word DAMN is in almost every Body's Mouth' (p 20). Thanks to Olbertson's careful work and extensive mining of these difficult historical sources, the twenty-first-century reader can now hear this dreadful word and many others in the mouths of the citizens - both raucous and polite - of eighteenth-century Massachusetts.' Jessica Lowe, American Journal of Legal History

Spis treści

1. Introduction; 2. A politer peace; 3. Sensibility; 4. Civility; 5. Credibility; 6. Cacophony; 7. Respectability; Bibliography; Index.