Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists
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Jane Hodson
Abstract
In contradistinction to interpretations that have positioned Austen as the epitome of a fixed and finished style, in this chapter I position her as an author who was writing at a time of considerable linguistic and stylistic change. In order to do so, I take both a micro- and a macro-linguistic approach to her writing. First, I focus on one specific grammatical feature that is highly salient to some modern readers, that of concordance with either, neither and none. Second, I examine the metalinguistic comments made by characters and narrators in her novels and consider the extent to which these provide evidence for Austen’s own attitudes. Finally, I explore whether or not it is true that Austen is unconcerned with nonstandard forms of language, comparing her practices to those of her contemporaries. Overall I argue that Austen was writing at a time when both language attitudes and language practices were in flux, and that as an author her style was shaped by the changes in progress, while she in turn made use of changing language attitudes for purposes of characterisation.
Abstract
In contradistinction to interpretations that have positioned Austen as the epitome of a fixed and finished style, in this chapter I position her as an author who was writing at a time of considerable linguistic and stylistic change. In order to do so, I take both a micro- and a macro-linguistic approach to her writing. First, I focus on one specific grammatical feature that is highly salient to some modern readers, that of concordance with either, neither and none. Second, I examine the metalinguistic comments made by characters and narrators in her novels and consider the extent to which these provide evidence for Austen’s own attitudes. Finally, I explore whether or not it is true that Austen is unconcerned with nonstandard forms of language, comparing her practices to those of her contemporaries. Overall I argue that Austen was writing at a time when both language attitudes and language practices were in flux, and that as an author her style was shaped by the changes in progress, while she in turn made use of changing language attitudes for purposes of characterisation.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enregistering the North 13
- Chapter 2. The origin and development of the iffy-an(d) conjunction 31
- Chapter 3. From ornament to armament 49
- Chapter 4. Borrowing and copy 71
- Chapter 5. Decoding the parentheses in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus 87
- Chapter 6. The first person in fiction of the 1790s 111
- Chapter 7. “Worth a moment’s notice” 129
- Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists 151
- Chapter 9. Dismantling narrative modes 171
- Chapter 10. Stylistics and “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by W.B. Yeats 195
- Index 213
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction 1
- Chapter 1. Enregistering the North 13
- Chapter 2. The origin and development of the iffy-an(d) conjunction 31
- Chapter 3. From ornament to armament 49
- Chapter 4. Borrowing and copy 71
- Chapter 5. Decoding the parentheses in Shakespeare’s Coriolanus 87
- Chapter 6. The first person in fiction of the 1790s 111
- Chapter 7. “Worth a moment’s notice” 129
- Chapter 8. Jane Austen and the prescriptivists 151
- Chapter 9. Dismantling narrative modes 171
- Chapter 10. Stylistics and “He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven” by W.B. Yeats 195
- Index 213
