Performing identities and interaction through epistolary formulae
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Lea Laitinen
Abstract
This article studies the exchange of correspondence between Finnish emigrants and their close relations in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The main goal of the article is to describe how the linguistic and social identities as writers are constructed in these letters on the basis of both the written standard and the resources available in spoken Finnish. One focus of the analysis is on epistolary formulae that cannot be seen as empty or non-analyzable elements. The meanings of these constructions are negotiated in the global context of nineteenth-century Finnish society, as well as in the local interaction and power relations between the writer and the addressee(s). This article discusses historical sociolinguistics ‘from below’, and aims to contribute to the topical discussions in sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics, especially concerning the fact that social styles not only reflect social meanings, but also construct them.
Abstract
This article studies the exchange of correspondence between Finnish emigrants and their close relations in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The main goal of the article is to describe how the linguistic and social identities as writers are constructed in these letters on the basis of both the written standard and the resources available in spoken Finnish. One focus of the analysis is on epistolary formulae that cannot be seen as empty or non-analyzable elements. The meanings of these constructions are negotiated in the global context of nineteenth-century Finnish society, as well as in the local interaction and power relations between the writer and the addressee(s). This article discusses historical sociolinguistics ‘from below’, and aims to contribute to the topical discussions in sociolinguistics and anthropological linguistics, especially concerning the fact that social styles not only reflect social meanings, but also construct them.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- The study of correspondence 13
- A historical digital archive of Portuguese letters 31
- Between linguistic creativity and formulaic restriction 45
- Performing identities and interaction through epistolary formulae 65
- Fanny to William 89
- An atypical commercial correspondence 105
- Reporting the news in English and Italian diplomatic correspondence 121
- Letters as loot 139
- The problem of reading dialect in semiliterate letters 163
- “I will be expecting a letter from you before this reaches you” 179
- Letters in mechanically-schooled language 205
- Teaching grammar and composition through letter writing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England 229
- Index 251
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- The study of correspondence 13
- A historical digital archive of Portuguese letters 31
- Between linguistic creativity and formulaic restriction 45
- Performing identities and interaction through epistolary formulae 65
- Fanny to William 89
- An atypical commercial correspondence 105
- Reporting the news in English and Italian diplomatic correspondence 121
- Letters as loot 139
- The problem of reading dialect in semiliterate letters 163
- “I will be expecting a letter from you before this reaches you” 179
- Letters in mechanically-schooled language 205
- Teaching grammar and composition through letter writing in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century England 229
- Index 251
