JOURNAL ARTICLE

Crossing Currents: The Mother Tongue, Monolingualism, and Multilingualism in Household Words and All the Year Round.

  • Published In: Victorian Periodicals Review, 2024, v. 57, n. 4. P. 458 1 of 3

  • Database: Historical Abstracts with Full Text 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Millim, Anne-Marie 3 of 3

Abstract

The idea of the mother tongue is a current of thought that establishes monolingualism as a condition of true language. Developed in relation to pre-national German territories, the idea also had repercussions for debates about the linguistic identity of mid-Victorian Britain that were drawn out in the periodical press. This article examines how the journals Household Words (1850–59) and All the Year Round (1859–95), edited by Charles Dickens until 1870, align themselves with Johann Gottfried Herder's view that only a native speaker can master a language. Focusing on a corpus known as "the language articles," this essay considers how Dickens's contributors worked towards implementing a prestige language as the national language, all the while disbelieving the possibility of such an enterprise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Victorian Periodicals Review. 2024/12, Vol. 57, Issue 4, p458
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2024
  • ISSN:0709-4698
  • DOI:10.1353/vpr.2024.a965275
  • Accession Number:187346598
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Victorian Periodicals Review is the property of Johns Hopkins University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.