Thesis (doctoral)--University of Glasgow, 2009. Published under the title Pragmatic readings of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575-1611 : with diplomatic transcriptions of their correspondence in 2009. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
The familial backdrop : short biographies of the Thynne women -- Mouths have become hands : holograph vs. scribal utterance -- Ruling epistolary prose : punctuation and textual-utterance markers -- Everyday magic verbs : performative utterances -- Utterance, power and politeness : the letter exchange between Joan Thynne and Lucy Audley -- Sincerity, seriousness and ironic subversions : the attitudes of utterance in the letters of Maria Thynne, c. 1601-1610 -- Conclusions and future directions.
Summary:
"Located at the intersection of historical pragmatics, letters and manuscript studies, this book offers a multi-dimensional analysis of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575-1611. It investigates multiple ways in which socio-culturally and socio-familially contextualized reading of particular collections may increase our understanding of early modern letters as a particular type of handwritten communicative activity. The book also adds to our understanding of these women as individual users of English in their historical moment, especially in terms of literacy and their engagement with cultural scripts. Throughout the book, analysis is based on the manuscript letters themselves and in this way several chapters address the importance of viewing original sources to understand the letters' full pragmatic significance. Within these broader frameworks, individual chapters address the women's use of scribes, prose structure and punctuation, performative speech act verbs, and (im)politeness, sincerity and mock (im)politeness"--Publisher website.
Series:
Pragmatics & beyond new series (P&BNS), 0922-842X ; volume 233
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.