Speak American
Speak American explores how language tied together race, power, and citizenship in Territorial Hawaiâi from 1924 to 1960 via the public Kâ12 English Standard School System. In this segregated system, children were tested for spoken English fluency: those who passed were placed in elite classes or schools, while others remained in regular classrooms. Proposed by white mothers, the policy used language as a tool to implement de facto racial separation, privileging those who already spoke English rather than teaching it to those who didnât. This dynamic was enabled by "listening regimes" (disciplinary practices that trained educators and the public to listen for and reward Standard English), while marginalizing Hawaiâi Creole English, the everyday language of plantation and urban life.
Drawing on archival records, interviews, and school alumni events, the book introduces the concept of the "panauricon"âa listening-based counterpart to Foucaultâs visual panopticonâto describe how language surveillance reinforced and extended social hierarchies. A century later, debates over monolingualism and national identity persist, making this study of Hawaiâiâs historic linguistic politics both timely and urgent.
Speak American
Speak American explores how language tied together race, power, and citizenship in Territorial Hawaiâi from 1924 to 1960 via the public Kâ12 English Standard School System. In this segregated system, children were tested for spoken English fluency: those who passed were placed in elite classes or schools, while others remained in regular classrooms. Proposed by white mothers, the policy used language as a tool to implement de facto racial separation, privileging those who already spoke English rather than teaching it to those who didnât. This dynamic was enabled by "listening regimes" (disciplinary practices that trained educators and the public to listen for and reward Standard English), while marginalizing Hawaiâi Creole English, the everyday language of plantation and urban life.
Drawing on archival records, interviews, and school alumni events, the book introduces the concept of the "panauricon"âa listening-based counterpart to Foucaultâs visual panopticonâto describe how language surveillance reinforced and extended social hierarchies. A century later, debates over monolingualism and national identity persist, making this study of Hawaiâiâs historic linguistic politics both timely and urgent.
Product Information
Product Information
Shipping & Returns
Shipping & Returns
Description
Speak American explores how language tied together race, power, and citizenship in Territorial Hawaiâi from 1924 to 1960 via the public Kâ12 English Standard School System. In this segregated system, children were tested for spoken English fluency: those who passed were placed in elite classes or schools, while others remained in regular classrooms. Proposed by white mothers, the policy used language as a tool to implement de facto racial separation, privileging those who already spoke English rather than teaching it to those who didnât. This dynamic was enabled by "listening regimes" (disciplinary practices that trained educators and the public to listen for and reward Standard English), while marginalizing Hawaiâi Creole English, the everyday language of plantation and urban life.
Drawing on archival records, interviews, and school alumni events, the book introduces the concept of the "panauricon"âa listening-based counterpart to Foucaultâs visual panopticonâto describe how language surveillance reinforced and extended social hierarchies. A century later, debates over monolingualism and national identity persist, making this study of Hawaiâiâs historic linguistic politics both timely and urgent.
