Orthographic synchronization: Prescriptive spelling and the making of historical time, c. 1900

Language prescription – political efforts to produce and maintain language norms – has been integral to modern governance. Pursuits of linguistic homogeneity can be traced through numerous pedagogical programmes, reform projects, and ventures of national consolidation. This essay argues that historical cases of orthographic standardization – that is, prescribed protocols of spelling – must be understood as examples of temporal synchronization. By mapping out the principal incentives of a comprehensive spelling reform carried out in early twentieth-century Sweden, the analysis connects the rationality of standardization to situated experiences of temporal disorder, asynchronous rhythms, and conflicting timescapes. The central argument is that orthographic reforms produce unified historical time in order to align a series of conflicting temporalities. Implementing analytical frameworks of temporal multiplicity and synchronization, the article accentuates a previously understudied relationship between spelling reforms and strategic constructions of historical time.