It is hard to believe that there has not been an exhibition about the English language before – but there is now! We preview this major event at the British Library for English speakers, lovers and students…
There is nothing like a good, meaty debate about language to stir us all up, and the first exhibition exploring the English language is guaranteed to get tongues wagging up and down the land. Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices starts at the British Library on November 12 and will keep us warm until spring through its exploration of our amazing language from Anglo-Saxon runes to modern day rap.
As a trained sub-editor, I have worked with quite sniffy, self-appointed language purists. One editor still refuses to allow the use of the word kid for children, saying snootily: ‘A kid is a baby goat.’ My eyes have been opened recently to the extraordinary breadth and chameleonic qualities of English after reading Jeremy Butterfield’s Damp Squid which documents the evolution of English usage through reference to the world’s largest language databank, the Oxford English Corpus. So I feel nicely warmed up to the gems and discussions on offer at the British Library, where, at the very least, I won’t bump into my kid-hating former colleague.
That is because as well as covering the history of the language, it also explores where it is now, where it has come from and where it is heading. The new varieties of the language appearing in world literature and on the internet show that this story is by no means over.
Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices also looks at comics, adverts, text messages, posters, newspapers, trading records and dialect recordings that make up the bulk of the English language. In addition, the exhibition gives the library the chance to open up its treasure chest, offering visitors a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the earliest surviving copy of Beowulf, Caxton’s printing of The Canterbury Tales and Shakespeare quartos. There will also be a chance to hear speeches by Pankhurst, Churchill and Gandhi.
Celebrated linguist David Crystal has written the accompanying exhibition book Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices: An Illustrated History. He said: ‘This is a first. No exhibition anywhere has ever been devoted to the entire history and present-day global use of the English language. While some of the famous items have been displayed before, this is the first time they have all been brought together into a single room with the sole purpose of showing how the language developed and diversified during its 1,500-year history.
‘They are supplemented by an array of lesser-known works and ephemera, all fascinating in their own right, many of which have never been on public display. It is an extraordinary story and only the extraordinary resources of the British Library could ever do justice to it.’
Among the many highlights that caught the eye of Ink Pellet, are the free workshops for schools. In Why Read? Why Write? students will explore the processes of writing, re-drafting and editing, using original manuscripts on display in the British Library’s treasures gallery, and a creative writing workshop called Play on Words, designed for Years 7 to 9 where pupils will be using collection items and experimental techniques to inspire new work. These are just two of a varied menu, planned by Head of Learning Roger Walshe’s department. Roger said: ‘Anyone with an interest in language will find something fascinating in this new British Library exhibition. The everyday phrases we use, our slang, our professional usages and our accents, all have intriguing and telling histories. Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices uncovers these histories by displaying for the first time the artefacts that tell the story of English from its beginnings 1,500 years ago to its present-day use around the world.’
A wide variety of special events has pulled together an eclectic group of experts and analysts to entertain and inform. For example, the comic and impressionist Alistair McGowan joins broadcaster Martin Kelner for a discussion on the language of sport (January 11) while The Thick of It’s ‘swearing consultant’ and author of Viz Magazine’s Profanisaurus Ian Martin celebrates the language of swearing and profanity with author Peter Silverton. (But for goodness sake, don’t tell the Daily Mail.)
Another gem to look forward to is The Other English: Some African Reflections led by Simon Gikandi, professor of English at Princeton University, who explores the effect that the spread of the English language through colonisation had on the lives of African people.
The British Library is working in partnership with six public libraries across England to host a series of community events to explore how dialect, pronunciation and regional accents affect individual, community and cultural identity. The events will include poetry and music performances, lectures and discussions, family workshops, displays and games. And if that’s not enough, there are CPD events for teachers.
It is hard, these days, to accept the changes in language but this important exhibition is set to celebrate development, and to show that it was
ever thus.
As we now say in the review business, ‘This exhibition is a must-see!’
Image above: The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer (1483) Chaucer’s poem was one of the first English texts to be printed when William Caxton published an edition in about 1476. It was an immediate bestseller. This is an image of the second edition which followed in 1483, in which Caxton corrects various inaccuracies and brings the text to life with fabulous woodcut illustrations of the pilgrims.
Read up (vti)
Damp Squid by Jeremy Butterfield Published by OUP. ISBN 978-0-19-923906-1
Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices. An Illustrated History by David Crystal Published by British Library Publishing ISBN 978-0-71-235099-0 (hardback) ISBN 978-0-71-235098-3 (paperback)
Workshops /wurk shop
For enquiries contact the Learning Team 020 7412 7797 or email learning@bl.uk
The nitty-gritty [20th century Orig unknown]
Evolving English: One Language, Many Voices is open from 12 November 2010 – 3 April 2011 in the PACCAR Gallery at the British Library. Admission to the exhibition is FREE.
Further details: www.bl.uk