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Revision as of 22:35, 18 November 2007 by Donreed (talk | contribs) (→Detail)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The Story of English is the title of an Emmy Award winning nine-part television series, and a companion book, both produced in 1986, detailing the development of the English language.
The book and the television series were written by Robert MacNeil, Robert McCrum and William Cran. The book has been revised twice, once in 1993 (ISBN 0140154051), and again in 2002 (ISBN 0142002313).
The documentary series was directed by William Cran, and originally broadcast on BBC and PBS. It was co-produced by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions and the BBC, and was principally funded through a grant from General Foods. The third episode, "A Muse of Fire", won the 1987 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing. The series was released as a 5 tape box set in 2001, running 495 minutes.
The book and series have been used in University courses.
Detail
"Video 1: An English Speaking World," had a section on Indian English, which made the point that India had a number of native languages derived from Sanskrit, 21 of which (including Hindi) had official status, but English—a foreign import and a symbol of imperialism—was the most widely-used language in the country. As an example, they interviewed several young women, who explained that it was necessary to speak English well to find a good husband. As another example, the series showed a courthouse in Delhi, which featured a few dozen public scribes with rather old manual typewriters and supplies of paper and blank legal forms, ready to type anything that was asked. The numerous typists with English typewriters were all busy; some had lines of waiting clients. The one typist with a Hindi typewriter was idle.
References
- McCrum, Robert (1986). The Story of English. New York: Viking. ISBN 0670804673.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - The Story of English at IMDb
- The Story of English, Programs 1-9
- The Story of English Video Series - contents listing
- ENG 121: The Story of English
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