Chapter 2. Of hopes and plans
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Birte Bös
Abstract
This study investigates a specialised corpus of prefatory metadiscourse, i.e. newsmakers’ comments published in the first editions of their newspapers which appeared on the market at the end of the seventeenth century and in the first decades of the eighteenth century. The material analysed provides insights into contemporary journalistic practices and ideals, the ways newsmakers positioned themselves and projected their audiences. Certain structural similarities, e.g. a recurrent three-step argumentation structure, suggest that newsmakers often resorted to prevalent rhetorical patterns. Yet, the period under investigation also displays some diachronic changes, from a preference for relatively concise, practically oriented comments to more elaborate metadiscursive passages featuring fictional editorial personae and an ornate literary style.
Abstract
This study investigates a specialised corpus of prefatory metadiscourse, i.e. newsmakers’ comments published in the first editions of their newspapers which appeared on the market at the end of the seventeenth century and in the first decades of the eighteenth century. The material analysed provides insights into contemporary journalistic practices and ideals, the ways newsmakers positioned themselves and projected their audiences. Certain structural similarities, e.g. a recurrent three-step argumentation structure, suggest that newsmakers often resorted to prevalent rhetorical patterns. Yet, the period under investigation also displays some diachronic changes, from a preference for relatively concise, practically oriented comments to more elaborate metadiscursive passages featuring fictional editorial personae and an ornate literary style.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
- Chapter 1. English news discourse from newsbooks to new media 3
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Part I. Changing or maintaining conventions?
- Chapter 2. Of hopes and plans 15
- Chapter 3. Religious lexis and political ideology in English Civil War newsbooks 39
- Chapter 4. Contemporary observations on the attention value and selling power of English print advertisements (1700–1760) 61
- Chapter 5. A modest proposal in The Gentleman’s Magazine 81
- Chapter 6. Lexical bundles in news discourse 1784–1983 97
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Part II. Widening audiences
- Chapter 7. British popular newspaper traditions 119
- Chapter 8. The Poor Man’s Guardian 137
- Chapter 9. Diffusing political knowledge in illustrated magazines 157
- Chapter 10. From adverts to letters to the editor 175
- Chapter 11. The public identity of Jack the Ripper in late nineteenth-century British newspapers 199
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Part III. New practices
- Chapter 12. Narrative vs. “objective” style 219
- Chapter 13. Astride two worlds 241
- Chapter 14. Newspaper funnies at the dawn of modernity 267
- Index 295
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Preface 1
- Chapter 1. English news discourse from newsbooks to new media 3
-
Part I. Changing or maintaining conventions?
- Chapter 2. Of hopes and plans 15
- Chapter 3. Religious lexis and political ideology in English Civil War newsbooks 39
- Chapter 4. Contemporary observations on the attention value and selling power of English print advertisements (1700–1760) 61
- Chapter 5. A modest proposal in The Gentleman’s Magazine 81
- Chapter 6. Lexical bundles in news discourse 1784–1983 97
-
Part II. Widening audiences
- Chapter 7. British popular newspaper traditions 119
- Chapter 8. The Poor Man’s Guardian 137
- Chapter 9. Diffusing political knowledge in illustrated magazines 157
- Chapter 10. From adverts to letters to the editor 175
- Chapter 11. The public identity of Jack the Ripper in late nineteenth-century British newspapers 199
-
Part III. New practices
- Chapter 12. Narrative vs. “objective” style 219
- Chapter 13. Astride two worlds 241
- Chapter 14. Newspaper funnies at the dawn of modernity 267
- Index 295
