Nationalism and the reception of Jacob Grimm's 'Deutsche Grammatik' by English-speaking audiences

Grimm 'arrived' in Britain in the 1830s, more than a decade after his pione ering insights into the nature of language first appeared in the Deutsche G rammatik. This essay offers a comprehensive survey of Grimm's British recep tion to determine why, and in what ways, the German grammarian's theories p ermeated British speaking consciousness at this particular historical junct ure. It is especially concerned to relate Grimm to a fundamental shift that occurred in popular and scholarly perceptions of language in Britain in th e 1830s and early 1840s, when the status of English changed from that of po or cousin to Latin and Greek, to equal sibling with the classical tongues. The nationalistic uses and misuses of Grimm in this process of revision wil l be drawn into sharp focus.