Date: Wed, 8 Oct 1997 14:10:43 EDT

From: Michael Montgomery N270053[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]VM.SC.EDU

Subject: Dialect in Literature



With regard to the use of dialect in literature, I don't believe anyone

has mentioned the following very useful book-length work:



Burkett, Eva M. 1978. American English dialects in literature.

Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow.



also I might refer to the lengthy chapter of 149 items in my _Annotated

Bibliography of Southern American English_. This includes unpublished

dissertations and theses.



Graham Shorrocks has a very useful recent essay on the distinction

between "dialect in literature" and "literary dialect" in the memorial

volume for Ossi Ihalainen, edited by Matti Rissanen et al. in the

Bamberg monograph series on English linguistics.



Sali, don't be so shocked that Twain and Faulkner and authors of

similar stature were so heavily dependent on stereotyping. They

knew that this is what their audiences expected. However, a case

can be made that they were more successful in differentiating

characters and styles through representing dialect; for references,

see a number of works in the aforementioned bibliographies.



Michael Montgomery

Dept of English

Univ of South Carolina

Columbia SC 29208