Description
An important polemical study of the politics of the English language, from colonialism to contemporary debates about free speech, propaganda and "post-truth" rhetoric.
About the Author
Thomas Docherty is Professor of English at the University of Warwick, UK. He has published on most areas of English and comparative literature from the Renaissance to the present day. He specializes in the philosophy of literary criticism, in critical theory, and in cultural history in relation primarily to European philosophy and literatures. His previous publications include After Theory (1996), The English Question (2008) and Literature and Capital (Bloomsbury, 2018).
Reviews
This brilliant text demands immediate attention. Gathering research from a wide spectrum of disciplines in order to gain understanding of the normalizing of "atrocious" language (p. 1), Docherty (English, Univ. of Warwick, UK) argues that such language has the power to shape democratic discourse, culture, and politics and widen divisions between those who find truth in facts and reality and those who measure truth by agreement as prescribed by ideology and community. Summing Up: Essential. * CHOICE *
With deep research, knowledge of modern Britain, a citizen's passion, and a boxer's punch, Docherty provides an eloquent defence of a civil, informed public sphere over habit, hate, and clannism. Everyone who can read should read his chapters on free speech, academic freedom, and no-platforming. * Regenia Gagnier, Chair of English Language and Literature, University of Exeter, UK and author of Literatures of Liberalization *
Book Information
ISBN 9781350101388
Author Prof. Thomas Docherty
Format Paperback
Page Count 248
Imprint Bloomsbury Academic
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Weight(grams) 310g