New York’s Hyphenated History

In Pardis Mahdavi’s new book Hyphen, she explores the way hyphenation became not only a copyediting quirk but a complex issue of identity, assimilation, and xenophobia amid anti-immigration movements at the turn of the twentieth century. In the excerpt below, Mahdavi gives the little-known history of New York’s hyphenation debate.

“This thing—this hyphen—is like a gremlin which sneaks around in the dark … you should call a special meeting of City Council immediately and have a surgical operation on it! We won’t be hyphenated by anyone!” Pardis Mahdavi, The Paris Review

Sempre molto interessanti le discussioni sulla punteggiatura! 

Anche questa settimana: Blades, poisons, guns, bombs, defenestration, and plump cushions: Et Tu, Brute? Day of the Assassins: A History of Political Murder, Michael Burleigh (Picador), Jonathan Meades, Literary Review

Ancora sulla cancel culture: "Publishers today are teetering on a tightrope. Which voices should they amplify with a publishing deal – those their staff agree with, or those with an audience who agree with them? How far does an author have to go before their views are deemed unpublishable? What about when the personal views of an author, say JK Rowling, are condemned and staff object to working on her next children’s book? Where to draw the line?" Alison Flood, The Guardian