Unruly tongue
Subtitle: identity and voice in American women's writing, 1850-1930
By: Martha J. Cutter.
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Jackson
Language: eng
Number of pages: 228
Subjects: American fiction -- Women authors -- History and criticism.; Feminism and literature -- United States -- History -- 19th century.; Feminism and literature -- United States -- History -- 20th century.; American fiction -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; American fiction -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; Feminist fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Domestic fiction, American -- History and criticism.; Authorship -- Sex differences -- History -- 19th century.; Authorship -- Sex differences -- History -- 20th century.; Women and literature -- United States.; Women -- United States -- Language.; Group identity in literature.; Ethnic groups in literature.
Description: "Women should be seen and not heard" was a well-known maxim in the nineteenth century. In a society perceiving that language was for the province of male, white speakers, how did women writers find a voice?

In Unruly Tongue Martha J. Cutter answers this question with works by ten African American and Anglo American women who wrote between 1850 and 1930. She shows that female writers in this period perceived how male-centered and racist ideas on language had silenced them. By adopting voices that are maternal, feminine, and ethnic, they broke the link between masculinity and voice and created new forms of language that empowered them and their female characters.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references ([207]-221) and index.