Domain structure: Registers (and genres, text types)
The corpus texts belong to one particular publication type, namely that of tract or pamphlet, i.e. they are relatively short texts (shorter than books) serving the function of mass communication. Pamphlets dealt with any kind of subject matter, although those concerned with themes of pressing current interest are the prototypical ones, and they can have various functions, the persuasive (also polemic) one being typical, but the informative, instructive, and even entertaining, ones are also not being un-common. Thus, pamphlets are not to be seen as a single genre or text type, but instead represent many different genres.
‘Domain’, used as a corpus-structuring device, correlates roughly with the concept of ‘field’ as used in register studies, i.e. a domain comprises texts that belong to the same area of life or knowledge, and thus share similar topics to some extent.
The Lampeter Corpus is is subdivided into the following six domains:
The domains we chose for structuring the corpus are intended to mirror as broadly as possible the scope of life as experienced between 1640 and 1740 and also the publishing situation.
The domain labels should be understood as set against the background of 17th- and 18th-century Britain, e.g. the fact that ‘science’ then and now does not cover the same area. Miscellaneous was included as a catch-all domain to cover the many diverse texts that fit nowhere else.
‘Mixed’ texts, i.e. texts that cannot be classified clearly, are rather typical of the time, in which thinking was obviously less compartmentalized than it is nowadays. These were therefore included, usually by going by the predominant theme in a ‘mixed’ text: trial proceedings, for example, will be found under LAW in the corpus, even if their content is primarily political.
Subdivisions within domains
As the domains admit a great variety of texts, it was thought helpful to include a further three-fold subdivision with respect to content within each domain. This was not a compilation criterion, but was introduced later as an aid to the corpus user interested in particular topical fields only.
Subdivisions of RELIGION:
(i) “doctrine”, i.e. texts dealing with theological points (including bible exegesis) and thus also touching on points of controversy between religious groups (rel1 5 ),
(ii) “church affairs”, i.e. texts about current events or problems within the Anglican Church itself or some other church (rel2),
(iii) “pastoral and devotional”, i.e. texts reflecting more the everyday concerns with the spiritual welfare of the congregation and private forms of religious activity (rel3).
Subdivisions of POLITICS:
(i) “British affairs”, which deal with insular affairs going beyond England proper, i.e. involving Scotland and/or Ireland (pol1),
(ii) “English affairs”, meaning domestic affairs not extending beyond England, a category which virtually comes to an end with the Act of Union (1707) (pol2),
(iii) “foreign affairs”, i.e. texts about foreign policy, which are relatively rare (pol3).
Subdivisions of ECONOMY:
(i) “domestic economy and trade”, dealing with the economic situation within England (ec1),
(ii) “foreign and colonial economy and trade”, the prevalent group in this domain (ec2),
(iii) “financial”, i.e. texts about possible ways to raise revenue, in particular for the state (ec3).
Subdivisions of SCIENCE:
(i) “medicine”, which today is not seen as a pure natural science, but in the past clearly belongs in that group (sci1),
(ii) “geography”, a field with an especially strong attraction in a time of emerging world-wide ex-pansion of trade, settlement and politics (sci2),
(iii) “science other”, which includes a very mixed bag of different topics and approaches (sci3).
Subdivisions of LAW:
(i) “specific case discussions”, dealing with individual cases of general interest or even controversy (law1),
(ii) “court records”, i.e. transcriptions of legal proceedings, which can also contain some direct speech (law2),
(iii) “administration”, which includes statutory texts and those concerned with more technical aspects of the legal system (law3).
Subdivisions of MISCELLANEOUS:
(i) “biographical”, i.e. texts describing the life or part of the life of a person, for whatever purpose (msc1),
(ii) “current interest”, i.e. texts relating to some event or state of affairs which is supposed of general interest to the public (msc2),
(iii) “practical application or advice”, comprising texts offering help with practical questions (e.g. gardening) or in the social sphere (msc3).
Genres & text types
As pamphlets are simply a publication type, they can accommodate many different genres and text types. The corpus does not contain any mark-up for this aspect and did generally not use it as compilation parameters (with the exception of RelA-texts, which are always sermons). The following items are genre- or texttype-terms found in titles of corpus texts:
account, address, advise, answer, apology, argument, articles of impeachment, biography, book, catalogue, cosmography, defence, description, dialogue, directions, discourse, dissertation, enquiry, epistle, essay, history, instructions, laws, lecture, letter, model, narration/narrative, news, notes, observations, ordinances, pamphlet, paper(s), petition, plea, prediction, proposal, reasons, rebuke, relation, remarks, remonstrance, reply, report, sermon, speech, summary, tract, treatise, vindication |
