This paper explores patterns of interaction in late sixteenth-century personal letters. Self-mention (I) and addressee inclusion (you vs nominal title) are studied quantitatively and qualitatively in the letters of Norfolk gentleman Nathaniel Bacon and his correspondents to see how social relationships are mutually constructed. The results suggest that Bacon used more first- and second-person pronouns with his inferiors and equal family members than with his superiors, style-shifting to “humiliative” discourse when writing to social superiors, and to “friendly” discourse when writing to inferiors. Noblemen writing to Bacon employed somewhat similar patterns, but Bacon’s inferiors seemed to be more mixed in their usage. It is argued that differences in educational background and consequent repertoires of stylistic literacy may explain such differences.
2024. ‘My dearest Clara … my dear friend’ – Personal Names and direct address in Mary Hamilton’s private correspondence. Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics 10:1 ► pp. 31 ff.
Marcus, Imogen
2022. A Comparative Investigation of Anaphoric Reference Devices in Anglo-Norman and Middle English Personal Letters. Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 57:1 ► pp. 225 ff.
2012. From manuscript to printing: Transformations of genres in the history of English. In The Oxford Handbook of the History of English, ► pp. 304 ff.
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