Language myths and the history of English
Metaphors, myths, ideologies and archivesDEFINING MYTHSCONCEPTUAL METAPHORS AND MYTHSLANGUAGE MYTHS AND CONCEPTUAL METAPHORSThe connection with history and the nation-stateConceptual metaphors of languageFOUCAULT'S UNDERSTANDING OF DISCOURSEDISCOURSE ARCHIVESMYTHS ARE THE "STUFF THAT IDEOLOGIES ARE MADE ON"THE STRUCTURE OF THE BOOKEstablishing a linguistic pedigreeTHE FIRE AT ASHBURNHAM HOUSETHE MYTH OF THE LONGEVITY OF ENGLISHTRACING THE GROWTH OF INTEREST IN THE BEOWULF MANUSCRIPTTHE DATING OF BEOWULFKIERNAN'S ARGUMENTSSOCIOLINGUISTIC ARGUMENTS IN FAVOUR OF A DANELAW PROVENANCE FOR BEOWULFSWITCHING DISCOURSE ARCHIVESBreaking the unbroken traditionLINKING TWO MYTHSMETAPRAGMATIC AND METADISCURSIVE LINGUISTIC EXPRESSIONS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE IN INSCRIBED ORALITYMetapragmatic and metadiscursive linguistic expressionsInscribed oralityTHE ANGLO-SAXON CHRONICLES AND THE ARCHIVE THEY INSTANTIATEDWhat were the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles?What was the archive of which the ASC was an instantiation?THE BREAKDOWN OF THE ARCHIVE AND INSCRIBED ORALITYWhat was or is the Peterborough Chronicle?Inscribed orality in the first section and First Continuation of the Peterborough ChronicleInscribed orality in the Second Continuation of the Peterborough ChronicleTHE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE ASC: THE END OF A DISCOURSE ARCHIVEThe construction of a modern myth: Middle English as a creoleTHE CREOLISATION HYPOTHESISTHE DISCUSSION THREAD "IS ENGLISH A CREOLE?"THE "MIDDLE ENGLISH IS A CREOLE" DEBATE IN THE ACADEMIC LITERATUREBeginnings of the debate: Bailey and Maroldt (1977)First opponentsConfusion reignsClarity returnsALL LANGUAGE IS LANGUAGE IN CONTACTSIMPLIFICATION PROCESSES NOT RESULTING IN A CREOLEThe will of KetelThe First and Second Continuations of the Peterborough ChronicleThe Ormulum and Havelok the DaneCREOLISATION OR NO CREOLISATION?Barbarians and othersTHE NATION-STATE AND THE NOTION OF KULTURSPRACHELANGUAGE VERSUS A LANGUAGE VERSUS THE LANGUAGEExplaining the paradoxesThe cognitive approach to language: Human language versus different languagesA focus on the languageTHE "OTHER" CHRONICLE TRADITIONMYTHS IN THE POLYCHRONICONLINKING UP AND EXTENDING THE MYTHSThe central mythsThree later myths of the sixteenth centuryLocal and peripheral mythsTHE CENTRAL NEXUS OF LANGUAGE MYTHSThe myth of "greatness"INTRODUCTIONDATING THE GVSA REAPPRAISAL OF RESEARCH WORK ON AN ELUSIVE PHENOMENONHow has the GVS traditionally been presented?What was the "Great Vowel Shift"?GVS DISPUTESCHALLENGING THE GVSSOCIOLINGUISTIC ASPECTS OF THE GVSTHE MYTH OF GREATNESS RECONSIDEREDReinterpreting Swift's A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English TonguePOTENTIAL NEW MYTHSTHE "IDEOLOGY OF THE STANDARD LANGUAGE" AND THE COMPLAINT TRADITION SWIFT'S PROPOSAL AS THE BEGINNING OF A COMPLAINT TRADITIONCONTEXTUALISING THE PROPOSAL SOCIOHISTORICALLYVeiled criticism: The smokescreen of complaining about languageSwift's use of the language mythsALTERNATIVE READINGS OF SWIFT'S PROPOSALSWIFT AND AFTERPolishing the mythsTHE OBSESSION WITH POLITENESSTHE ORIGINS OF EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY POLITENESSTHE HONNETE HOMME AND DESCARTES' PHYSIOLOGICAL METAPHORGENTRIFYING PHILOSOPHYCOMMERCIALISING THE MYTH OF THE POLITE LANGUAGEEstablishing the idea of a social order: The Tatler and the SpectatorInstitutionalising the ideology of politeness/standard EnglishCommercialising standard English, or polite EnglishPOSTSCRIPTChallenging the hegemony of standard English"POLITE ENGLISH" AND SOCIAL STRATIFICATION AT THE END OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURYRADICALS, REVOLUTIONARIES AND LANGUAGE"Refined" and "vulgar" languageJohn Horne Tooke and the challenge to the distinction between "refined" and "vulgar" languageLANGUAGE AND WORKING-CLASS MOVEMENTS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURYWILLIAM HONE, PETERLOO AND THE CHARTIST MOVEMENTThe three trials of William HoneThe shame of PeterlooChartism and the fear of armed revolutionFROM THE LEGITIMATE LANGUAGE TO THE STANDARD LANGUAGETransforming a myth to save an archiveFROM HOMO SOCIALIS TO HOMO CULTURALISLANGUAGE AND POLITENESS, LANGUAGE AND "EDUCATEDNESS"COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS AND THE TEACHING OF STANDARD ENGLISHPLANNING THE REINTRODUCTION OF GRAMMAR INTO THE NATIONAL CURRICULUMJOHN HONEY AND THE NOTION OF EDUCATEDNESSWHAT IS STANDARD ENGLISH?Commodifying English and constructing a new mythTHE EMERGENCE OF A MODERN MYTHENGLISH—"THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD"?THE COMMODIFICATION OF ENGLISHTHE PRICE OF ENGLISH IN SWITZERLANDBackground informationLocating the transformation: Two significant official documentsCompeting ideologies"The earlier, the better" and the need for English in the global marketConsequences of the discourse of English as a global languagePROBLEMS IN THE ASSUMPTION THAT ENGLISH IS THE GLOBAL LANGUAGEMyths, ideologies of English and the funnel view of the history of EnglishFROM CONCEPTUAL METAPHORS TO DISCOURSE ARCHIVES: THE FUNCTION OF THE MYTHTHE FUNNEL VIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ENGLISHMYTHS AS STORIESESTABLISHING THE "SUPERIORITY" OF ENGLISHLINGUISTIC HOMOGENEITY VERSUS LINGUISTIC HETEROGENEITY
