Talking American in the Midwest: Linguistic Diversity and Authenticity in the Twentieth-Century United States
Keyword(s):
During the early twentieth century – when the United States was receiving an influx of non-English-speaking immigrants, and “standardization” was a dominant, yet polarizing, concept – having a single national language that unified Americans became a controversial topic in public discourse. In The Odyssey of a Nice Girl, Ruth Suckow, like many authors at the time, used immigrant language as a foil for midwestern speech to demonstrate its “standard” Americanness. But, as this essay will show, by using other regional American dialects in a similar manner, she questioned how “Americanness” was being understood and recognized during this period in the United States.
2010 ◽
Vol 17
(4)
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pp. 305-323
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Keyword(s):
2018 ◽
Vol 17
(4)
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pp. 677-690
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1967 ◽
Vol 24
(2)
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pp. 107-121
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