The Familiar Letter in Early Modern English

The Familiar Letter in Early Modern English PDF

Author: Susan M. Fitzmaurice

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781588111869

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This research monograph examines familiar letters in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century English to provide a pragmatic reading of the meanings that writers make and readers infer. The first part of the book presents a method of analyzing historical texts. The second part seeks to validate this method through case studies that illuminate how modern pragmatic theory may be applied to distant speech communities in both history and culture in order to reveal how speakers understand one another and how they exploit intended and unintended meanings for their own communicative ends. The analysis demonstrates the application of pragmatic theory (including speech act theory, deixis, politeness, implicature, and relevance theory) to the study of historical, literary and fictional letters from extended correspondences, producing an historically informed, richly situated account of the meanings and interpretations of those letters that a close reading affords. This book will be of interest to scholars of the history of the English language, historical pragmatics, discourse analysis, as well as to social and cultural historians, and literary critics.

Familiar Letters - The Writings of Henry David Thoreau

Familiar Letters - The Writings of Henry David Thoreau PDF

Author: Henry David Thoreau

Publisher: Read Books Ltd

Published: 2016-12-02

Total Pages: 347

ISBN-13: 1473346576

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This is a collection of letters written by American naturalist Henry David Thoreau. Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862) was an American poet, philosopher, essayist, abolitionist, naturalist, development critic, and historian. He was also a leading figure in Transcendentalism, and is best known for his book “Walden”, a treatise on simple living in a natural environment. Other notable works by this author include: “The Landlord” (1843), “Reform and the Reformers” (1846–48), and “Slavery in Massachusetts” (1854). The letters in this volume are of a personal and intimate nature, and provide an unparalleled glimpse of both man and mind. “Familiar Letters” is highly recommended for fans of Thoreau's work, and it is not to be missed by the discerning collector. Contents include: “Years Of Discipline”, “Golden Age Of Achievement”, and “Friends And Followers”. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

Letters Familiar and Formal

Letters Familiar and Formal PDF

Author: Arcangela Tarabotti

Publisher: Acmrs Publications

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 319

ISBN-13: 9780772721327

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Coerced into taking the veil, Venetian writer Arcangela Tarabotti (1604-1652) spent her life protesting the practice of forcing girls into convents. Her fearless defense of women and attacks on patriarchal Venetian society earned her renown and access to the presses. Her publications, however, invited constant controversy. Tarabotti published her Letters Familiar and Formal to protect and enhance her literary reputation while also chronicling contemporary literary society and material existence in an early modern convent. The Letters flaunted Tarabotti's literary accomplishments, humiliated her critics, and advertised her powerful network of allies in Northern Italy and France. The Letters document how Tarabotti established herself as one of the most forceful proponents for women's self-determination in early modern Europe.