“I write not to expert practitioners, but to learners”: Perceptions of reader-friendliness in early modern printed books




Salmi Hanna

Peikola Matti, Bös Birte

2020

The Dynamics of Text and Framing Phenomena: Historical approaches to paratext and metadiscourse in English

Pragmatics & Beyond New Series

317

187

208

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.317.08sal



In this chapter, I will examine metadiscursive comments on the intended audience and the accessibility of texts in early modern English printed books. This study demonstrates how different aspects of the work could be seen as increasing its suitability to a broad readership, and what strategies early modern book producers chose for marketing their works to non-specialists or readers new to the topic covered. However, many of these strategies also served the purpose of fending off potential criticism from more learned readers, who were not the intended beneficiaries of popular books. This chapter also examines the relationship between the concepts of paratextual communication and metadiscourse.



Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 17:32