The diffusion of Caucasian and Aryan in the United States: a study in the impact of racial anthropology and comparative philology

Abstract

The history of linguistics offers a fascinating field of study in its own right, as well as providing an important layer of reflexivity to current debates in linguistic theory. This paper argues for the complementary interest of the study of the circulation, diffusion and impact of linguistic and related scholarly concepts beyond the realm of academia. This approach involves the study of a wider range of texts, including popular scholarship, writings for the educated public, political writings and debate, literary texts and law reports. The discussion offers a preliminary sketch of the diffusion of Caucasian and Aryan in the United States, noting how contradictions in scholarly discourse brought confusion into mainstream or ‘ordinary’ English. A process of definitional blurring can be observed between these categories and others, such as Anglo-Saxon, Teutonic, Germanic and Nordic. One domain where disambiguation was necessary was the law, given that white was a statutory term in naturalisation law.