Pseudonyms as carriers of contextualised threat in 19th-century Irish English threatening notices
This paper explores functions of pseudonyms in written threatening communication from a cognitive sociolinguistic
perspective. It addresses the semantic domains present in pseudonyms in a corpus of 19th-century Irish English threatening notices
and their cognitive functions in the construction of both cultural-contextualised threat and the threatener’s identity. We
identify eight semantic domains that are accessed recurrently in order to create threat. Contributing to the notion of threat
involves menacing war, violence, darkness and perdition directly, while also constructing a certain persona for the threatener
that highlights their motivation, moral superiority, historical, local and circumstantial expertise, and their physical and mental
aptitude. We argue that pseudonyms contribute to the deontic force of the threat by accessing cultural categories and schemas as
well as conceptual metaphors and metonymies. Finally, we suggest that pseudonyms function as post-positioned semantic frame
setters, providing a cognitive lens through which the entire threatening notice must be interpreted.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Theoretical framework
- 2.1A cognitive sociolinguistic perspective on threat
- 2.2Pseudonyms
- 3.Data and methodology
- 3.1The TNC
- 3.2Data extraction and analysis
- 4.Semantic domains in the construction of threat
- 4.1Organised war against oppression
- 4.2Violence
- 4.3Proper nouns
- 4.4Moral superiority
- 4.5Historical figures
- 4.6Physical/mental skill or ability
- 4.7Irish nationalism
- 4.8Light/darkness
- 5.Conclusion
- Notes
-
Sources
-
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Cited by (3)
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Latić, Denisa, Frank Polzenhagen, Hans‐Georg Wolf & Arne Peters
2024.
A research bibliography for world Englishes and Cultural Linguistics.
World Englishes 43:3
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Peters, Arne
2024.
Threatening as a sociocultural–conceptual communicative act.
World Englishes 43:3
► pp. 491 ff.
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