Overview

Through art photography and prose, this book addresses the fragility, beauty, and cultural value of preserving endangered languages. 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. AUTHOR: 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. SELLING POINTS: . All but 10 languages spoken on this continent have fewer than 50 speakers. This title strives to explore these endangered languages. . Portraits and biographies of the people behind the preservation of more than 70 endangered languages . Created by an endangered-language speaker with 20 years of photojournalism experience and degrees in linguistics and visual art 74 colour images

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9780764368141

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"""...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"

"""...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"

Author Information

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.

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