On the National Language
The Poetry of America's Endangered Tongues
Published on 28. November 2024
Book
Hardback
176 pages
978-0-7643-6814-1 (ISBN)
Description
A 2024 Anthem Awards winner for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (Awareness & Media category)
A Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Award GOLD winner, Multicultural category
Through art photography and prose, this book addresses the fragility, beauty, and cultural value of preserving endangered languages, particularly Indigenous languages, at a time when Indigenous and diversity issues are at the forefront of our national conversations.
In a groundbreaking project turned into a national touring exhibition,
endangered-language speaker, poet, and photojournalist B. A. Van Sise
worked with endangered-language speakers, learners, and revitalizers
across three years and an entire continent to showcase some of the
natural beauties of their languages and lands, highlighting, in
particular, American diversity and its many Indigenous
communities.
Augmented by nine contributors from diverse cultural
groups, On the National Language is a journey into both the challenges
and opportunities faced by revitalization efforts, as well as a
testament to the beauty and poetry of these many languages themselves.
A Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Award GOLD winner, Multicultural category
Through art photography and prose, this book addresses the fragility, beauty, and cultural value of preserving endangered languages, particularly Indigenous languages, at a time when Indigenous and diversity issues are at the forefront of our national conversations.
In a groundbreaking project turned into a national touring exhibition,
endangered-language speaker, poet, and photojournalist B. A. Van Sise
worked with endangered-language speakers, learners, and revitalizers
across three years and an entire continent to showcase some of the
natural beauties of their languages and lands, highlighting, in
particular, American diversity and its many Indigenous
communities.
Augmented by nine contributors from diverse cultural
groups, On the National Language is a journey into both the challenges
and opportunities faced by revitalization efforts, as well as a
testament to the beauty and poetry of these many languages themselves.
Reviews / Votes
"...does a great job of contextualizing the common tragedy of language loss, and it offers an informative sampling of those that still exist. A rich survey of just a few of the U.S.'s methods of communication." -- Kirkus "...breathtaking testimony to the demographic richness of the U.S. and the beautiful diversity of its linguistic landscape." -- Booklist STARRED review "...a gorgeous, sobering photobook" -- Washington PostMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Atglen
United States
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
74 color images
Dimensions
Height: 300 mm
Width: 234 mm
Thickness: 22 mm
Weight
1324 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7643-6814-1 (9780764368141)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
B. A. Van Sise is an author and photographic artist focused on the intersection between language and the visual image. He is the author of two previous monographs: Children of Grass: A Portrait of American Poetry and Invited to Life: After the Holocaust. He is a New York State Council on the Arts fellow, a two-time PX3 award winner, winner of the Lascaux Prize for Nonfiction, and an IPPY gold medalist.