Women's epistolary utterance : a study of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575-1611 / Graham T. Williams, University of Sheffield.

doctoral University of Glasgow 2009

Published under the title "Pragmatic readings of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575-1611 : with diplomatic transcriptions of their correspondence" in 2009

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Print version record.

Located at the intersection of historical pragmatics, letters and manuscript studies, this book offers a multi-dimensional analysis of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, 1575-1611. It investigates multiple ways in which socio-culturally and socio-familially contextualized reading of particular collections may increase our understanding of early modern letters as a particular type of handwritten communicative activity. The book also adds to our understanding of these women as individual users of English in their historical moment, especially in terms of literacy and their engagement with cul.

Women's Epistolary Utterance; Editorial page ; Title page ; LCC data ; Table of contents; Acknowledgements; Chapter 1; Introduction; 1.1 Research objectives; 1.2 Previous research; 1.3 Why the Thynne letters?; 1.4 Theory and methodology: Historical utterance in writing; 1.5 Overview of analyses; Chapter 2; The familial backdrop; Short biographies of the Thynne women; 2.1 Joan (bap. 1558, d. 1612); 2.2 Maria (c.1578-1611); Chapter 3; 'Mouths have become hands'; Holograph vs. scribal utterance; 3.1 Macro-context: The holograph/scribal distinction; 3.2 Micro-context: Using scribes.

3.3 Analysis I: Handwriting3.4 Analysis II: Spatial organization of the page; 3.5 Analysis III: Orthographies and abbreviation; 3.6 Analysis IV: Scribes and language; 3.6.1 Scribal practice(s); 3.6.2 Scribal variation in Joan Thynne's letters; 3.7 Conclusion; Chapter 4; Ruling epistolary prose; Punctuation and textual-utterance markers; 4.1 Textual utterances; 4.2 Historical background to epistolary prose structure; 4.3 Punctuation; 4.3.1 Punctuation in Joan's holograph letters; 4.3.2 Punctuation in Joan's scribal letters; 4.3.3 Punctuation in Maria's letters; 4.4 Lexical utterance markers.

4.4.1 Connectives4.4.2 Adverbial and subordinating connectors; 4.4.3 Discourse markers and interjections; 4.5 Present participles; 4.6 Openings and closings; 4.7 Conclusion; Chapter 5; Everyday magic verbs; Performative utterances; 5.1 Performatives: Description and significance; 5.2 Commissive performatives; 5.3 Representative performatives; 5.4 Expressive performatives; 5.5 Directive performatives; 5.6 Negative data?; 5.7 Conclusion; Chapter 6; Utterance, power and politeness; The letter exchange between Joan Thynne and Lucy Audley; 6.1 Mitigating the pragmatic risks of (not) writing.

6.2 Expressions of 'friendship' and sincerity6.3 Address terms; 6.4 Some other telling linguistic features; 6.5 Summary of Lucy and Joan's politeness strategies; 6.6 Palaeography and textual pragmatics; 6.7 The complexities of negotiation; Chapter 7; Sincerity, seriousness and ironic subversions; The attitudes of utterance in the letters of Maria Thynne, c.1601-1610; 7.1 Defining and interpreting historical attitudes; 7.2 Thought, expression and sincerity; 7.3 Trial, God, kinship terms and flattery: Extending the rhetoric of sincerity; 7.4 'yf you please': Sarcasm in the final letter to Joan.

7.5 'the effectes of a very much disquyetted minde': Ironic play in the letters to Thomas7.6 'In Sober Sadness': Maria's serious voice; 7.7 Conclusion; Chapter 8; Conclusions and future directions; 8.1 Looking at manuscript sources; 8.2 Communicative spaces in writing; 8.3 Literacy and personality; 8.4 Questions; 8.5 The end; Bibliography; A calendar with selected diplomatic transcriptions and images of the letters of Joan and Maria Thynne, c.1575-1611; Acknowledgements; 1. Introduction ; 1.1 Research objectives; 1.2 Previous research; 1.3 Why the Thynne letters?

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