Bryson’s Made In America is a history of the English language in the United States, but in exploring this topic we get a potted history of everything from immigration to shopping centres, McDonald’s to film stars. Coming to this book as someone with very limited knowledge of American history, it was a fascinating romp through hundreds of years of history, and provides many interesting tidbits. In it, Bryson disabuses the reader of many commonly held misconceptions. Right from the off we learn that many Europeans had arrived in the ‘New World’ before the Mayflower set sail, as far back as the Vikings, and indeed that due to the number of fishing fleets that had been so common along the north-east coast, some English was already spoken on land when the settlers arrived. Another is that Germany’s autobahnen were inspired by America’s superhighways, not the other way round, and that LA once had the finest public transport network in America, if not the world.
We see throughout how many endeavours started with noble ambitions but were corrupted by a desire for more money. Indeed, the demise of LA’s public transport network was engineered by a State Senator who continually blocked investment in them while promoting the construction of freeways, forcing everyone on to the roads. We also learn about the utopian dream of early shopping centres, envisioned to be places where people would enjoy rest and relaxation, sitting talking to neighbours, enjoying a game of chess or a leisurely lunch. Soon they were corrupted into places to keep visitors moving, removing back rests from seats to make them uncomfortable to use for any length of time and designing foodcourts to be deliberately uncomfortable to encourage speed.
We gain snippets of history from other countries in the process of learning more about the US. For example, in talking about the huge boom in migration in the long nineteenth century Bryson mentions that in 1807 Ireland was the most densely populated country in Europe yet by the 1860s it was one of the least. People across the globe were taking part in mass migration, and for the US this meant that between 1830 and 1850 the proportion of foreign born immigrants rose from one in a hundred to one in ten. We see the unfortunate discrimination that many were on the receiving end of, but also the way these newly arrived residents benefited the country, bringing with them new ideas and innovation. Many of the main players in Hollywood were not American-born, changing their names to sound more naturalised. This influx of migrants naturally had an impact with many languages being spoken across the country. Indeed, a form of German known as Pennsylvania German, quite distinct from mainstream German now, retains a low number of native speakers.
We see also how many place names were changed over the years from their Indigenous names or those from Spanish and French-speaking colonists to names more easily pronounced by the English speakers. Some names were changed because words included became rude with time, or unfortunate for other reasons, e.g. Swastika. Others were changed merely because real estate developers were keen to make areas sound more appealing. What we see through the book is the way language develops and absorbs different influences.
An enjoyable read in Bryson’s signature accessible and entertaining style. Occasionally lists of words feel a little tedious but for the most part it is an enjoyable read which taught me much beyond the changing uses of English in America.
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