Speech Play and Verbal Art

by Joel Sherzer

Overview

Puns, jokes, proverbs, riddles, play languages, verbal dueling, parallelism, metaphor, grammatical stretching and manipulation in poetry and song— people around the world enjoy these forms of speech play and verbal artistry which form an intrinsic part of the fabric of their lives. Verbal playfulness is not a frivolous pursuit. Often indicative of people's deepest values and worldview, speech play is a significant site of intersection among language, culture, society, and individual expression.

In this book, Joel Sherzer examines many kinds of speech play from places as diverse as the United States, France, Italy, Bali, and Latin America to offer the first full-scale study of speech play and verbal art. He brings together various speech-play forms and processes and shows what they have in common and how they overlap. He also demonstrates that speech play explores and indeed flirts with the boundaries of the socially, culturally, and linguistically possible and appropriate, thus making it relevant for anthropological and linguistic theory and practice, as well as for folklore and literary criticism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780292777699
Publisher:	University of Texas Press
Publication date:	10/01/2002
Pages:	198
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Joel Sherzer is Professor of Anthropology and Linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin.

Table of Contents

• Preface
• 1. Introduction
• 2. The Grammar of Play and the Play of Grammar
• 3. Forms of Speech Play in Context
• 4. From Speech Play to Verbal Art
• 5. Contexts for Speech Play
• Notes
• References
• Credits
• Index

What People are Saying About This

William Bright

"[This book offers] the first general, unified, book-length treatment, from a linguistic-anthropological viewpoint, of 'speech play.'... Sherzer brings to bear a wide knowledge of relevant theory, as well as data from many human societies around the world. He succeeds in producing a 'state of the art' study, unique of its type, useful either as a textbook or as a reference volume."

Editorial Reviews

This book is impressive for its erudition and its thoroughness...Sherzer more than succeeds in proving his point that the study of speech play is central to understanding language use.

Journal of Sociolinguistics

This book is impressive for its erudition and its thoroughness...Sherzer more than succeeds in proving his point that the study of speech play is central to understanding language use.-- "Journal of Sociolinguistics" (6/13/2005 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher

This book is impressive for its erudition and its thoroughness...Sherzer more than succeeds in proving his point that the study of speech play is central to understanding language use.

Journal of Sociolinguistics - Carolyn Temple Adger