How to do things with glosses Illocutionary forces in the margins of medieval manuscripts

Schiegg M (2016)


Publication Status: Published

Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2016

Journal

Publisher: JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING CO

Book Volume: 17

Pages Range: 55-78

Journal Issue: 1

DOI: 10.1075/jhp.17.1.03sch

Abstract

This paper provides a novel view on marginalia from the perspective of linguistic pragmatics. It is based on the observation that existing studies often exclude entries in medieval manuscripts that do not comment on the text directly. Many of them, however, are crucial for understanding what medieval monks did when they studied manuscripts. Searle's (1969) Speech Act Theory, his typology of illocutionary forces, offers a suitable framework for the systematic analysis of the different kinds of manuscript entries and to reconstruct the intellectual contexts of medieval glossing. We can see that in addition to assertives (i.e., glosses that provide further information on a specific text passage) expressives, directives, commissives and declaratives can also be identified in the margins of medieval manuscripts. Sometimes, even the perlocution of marginalia, their effect on medieval readers, can be traced today.

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How to cite

APA:

Schiegg, M. (2016). How to do things with glosses Illocutionary forces in the margins of medieval manuscripts. Journal of Historical Pragmatics, 17(1), 55-78. https://dx.doi.org/10.1075/jhp.17.1.03sch

MLA:

Schiegg, Markus. "How to do things with glosses Illocutionary forces in the margins of medieval manuscripts." Journal of Historical Pragmatics 17.1 (2016): 55-78.

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