Thou and You in Early Modern English Dialogues


Book Description

This book is a corpus-based study examining thou and you in three speech-related genres from 1560–1760, a crucial period in the history of second person singular pronouns, spanning the time from when you became dominant to when thou became all but obsolete. The study embraces the fields of corpus linguistics, historical pragmatics, and historical sociolinguistics. Using data drawn from the recently released A Corpus of English Dialogues 1560–1760 and manuscript material, the aim is to ascertain which extra-linguistic and linguistic factors highlighted by previous research appear particularly relevant in the selection and relative distribution of thou and you. Previous research on thou and you has tended to concentrate on Drama and/or been primarily qualitative in nature. Depositions in particular have hitherto received very little attention. This book is intended to help fill a gap in the literature by presenting an in-depth qualitative and quantitative analysis of pronoun usage in Trials, Depositions, and, for comparative purposes, Drama Comedy.




Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance


Book Description

Shakespeare and the Italian Renaissance investigates the works of Shakespeare and his fellow dramatists from within the context of the European Renaissance and, more specifically, from within the context of Italian cultural, dramatic, and literary traditions, with reference to the impact and influence of classical, coeval, and contemporary culture. In contrast to previous studies, the critical perspectives pursued in this volume’s tripartite organization take into account a wider European intertextual dimension and, above all, an ideological interpretation of the 'aesthetics' or 'politics' of intertextuality. Contributors perceive the presence of the Italian world in early modern England not as a traditional treasure trove of influence and imitation, but as a potential cultural force, consonant with complex processes of appropriation, transformation, and ideological opposition through a continuous dialectical interchange of compliance and subversion.




Notes and Queries


Book Description







The Child and Childhood in Folk Thought


Book Description

1896. The Child in Primitive Culture. Contents: Child-Study; The Child's Tribute to the Mother; The Child's Tribute to the Father; The Name Child; The Child in the Primitive Laboratory; The Bright Side of Child-Life: Parental Affection; Childhood the Golden Age; Children's Food; Children's Souls; Children's Flowers, Plants, and Trees; Children's Animals, Birds, etc.; Child-Life and Education in General; The Child as Member and Builder of Society; The Child as Linguist; The Child as Actor and Inventor; The Child as Poet and Musician; The Child as Teacher and Wiseacre; The Child as Judge; The Child as Oracle-Keeper and Oracle-Interpreter; The Child as Weather-Maker; The Child as Healer and Physician; The Child as Shaman and Priest; The Child as Hero, Adventurer, etc.; The Child as Fetich and Divinity; The Child as God: The Christ-Child; Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about Parents, Father and Mother; Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about the Child, Mankind, Genius; Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about Mother and Child; Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about Father and Child; Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about Childhood, Youth, and Age; and Proverbs, Sayings, etc., about the Child and Childhood.




Authority, Gender and Emotions in Late Medieval and Early Modern England


Book Description

This collection explores how situations of authority, governance, and influence were practised through both gender ideologies and affective performances in medieval and early modern England. Authority is inherently relational it must be asserted over someone who allows or is forced to accept this dominance. The capacity to exercise authority is therefore a social and cultural act, one that is shaped by social identities such as gender and by social practices that include emotions. The contributions in this volume, exploring case studies of women and men's letter-writing, political and ecclesiastical governance, household rule, exercise of law and order, and creative agency, investigate how gender and emotions shaped the ways different individuals could assert or maintain authority, or indeed disrupt or provide alternatives to conventional practices of authority.