John Benjamins Publishing Company
“We have in some former bookes told you”
Abstract
This contribution examines metatextual comment in 17th-century periodical news publications. Periodical news publication was a new genre and those involved in its production had to determine the language they should use in the writing up of such news. In the article I analyze the terminology 17thcentury news writers themselves adopt in relation to their own publications and the news they are presenting. The analysis focuses both on the frequency and content of editorial metadiscourse between 1620 (the start of periodical news) and 1695 (the lapse of the Licensing Act). The diachronic analysis of frame and endophoric metatextual markers provides insight into editorial aspirations, anxieties, commercial concerns and general attitudes to news discourse.
Abstract
This contribution examines metatextual comment in 17th-century periodical news publications. Periodical news publication was a new genre and those involved in its production had to determine the language they should use in the writing up of such news. In the article I analyze the terminology 17thcentury news writers themselves adopt in relation to their own publications and the news they are presenting. The analysis focuses both on the frequency and content of editorial metadiscourse between 1620 (the start of periodical news) and 1695 (the lapse of the Licensing Act). The diachronic analysis of frame and endophoric metatextual markers provides insight into editorial aspirations, anxieties, commercial concerns and general attitudes to news discourse.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
-
The formation of public news discourse and metadiscursive terminology
- “We have in some former bookes told you” 3
- Conceptualisations, sources and agents of news 23
-
Changing modes of reference and shifts in audience orientation
- News in space and time 55
- Changing genre conventions and socio-cultural change 81
- Late Modern English death notices 103
- Medical news in England 1665–1800 in journals for professional and lay audiences 135
-
Transgressing boundaries and shifting styles
- Comparing discourse construction in 17th-century news genres 163
- Speech-like syntax in written texts 191
- Playing upon news genre conventions 223
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface vii
- Introduction ix
-
The formation of public news discourse and metadiscursive terminology
- “We have in some former bookes told you” 3
- Conceptualisations, sources and agents of news 23
-
Changing modes of reference and shifts in audience orientation
- News in space and time 55
- Changing genre conventions and socio-cultural change 81
- Late Modern English death notices 103
- Medical news in England 1665–1800 in journals for professional and lay audiences 135
-
Transgressing boundaries and shifting styles
- Comparing discourse construction in 17th-century news genres 163
- Speech-like syntax in written texts 191
- Playing upon news genre conventions 223
- Index 251
