Title:

From private to public: Letters contextualising the 1857-58 mutiny in the British press

Group publication title:

Token

Creator:

Samson, Christina

Keywords:

letters ; British press ; mutiny ; corpus linguistics ; place names ; sepoys ; weapons

Abstract:

This study focuses on private letters which turned public by their publication in British newspapers and contextualised the 1857-1858 mutiny in India. In doing so, they provided first-hand information of the dramatic events being experienced, and shaped the news presented as well as the readers’ opinions, thus foregrounding how letters can be considered a situated activity, in that they are written for a specific recipient and purpose. By adopting a corpus linguistic approach integrated with a qualitative interpretation, the study analyses the use of repeated keywords and their clusters’ discursive environment in a small specialised corpus of letters written by men and women during the mutiny. The emerging data suggest the language used attempts to generate emotive and critical reactions in the readership while creating a sense of borderless community across the empire by connecting personal concerns to a wider sense of public engagement while legitimising and or delegitimizing the 1857-58 mutiny.

Place of publishing:

Kielce

Physical description:

S. 59-80

ISSN:

2299-5900

Publisher:

Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jana Kochanowskiego w Kielcach

Date issued:

2020

Identifier:

doi:10.25951/4358

Language:

angielski

Is part of:

Token : A Journal of English Linguistics

Has part:

Vol. 10/2020

Type:

tekst

Format:

application/pdf