The Birth of the Academic Article: Le Journal Des Sçavans and the Philosophical Transactions 1665-1700

Author:   David Banks
Publisher:   Equinox Publishing Ltd
ISBN:  

9781781792322


Pages:   277
Publication Date:   15 February 2017
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
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The Birth of the Academic Article: Le Journal Des Sçavans and the Philosophical Transactions 1665-1700


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Overview

This study is a linguistic analysis of the first two academic periodicals from their creation in 1665 until the end of the seventeenth century. These were the Journal des Scavans in France and the Philosophical Transactions in England. The analysis is carried out within the framework of Systemic Functional Linguistics. The linguistic features and aspects of the theory necessary for understanding the rest of the book are explained, and the historical situation is described in order to place the texts in the context from which they derived. The corpus is made up of a selection of issues for the years 1665, 1675, 1685 and 1694/5, totalling over 66,000 words for the Journal des Scavans, and over 77,000 words for the Philosophical Transactions. Thematic structure and progression, types of process, expressions of modality, and nominalised processes are studied in each of the periodicals and the results compared. It is shown that differences in the results for the two journals derive from differing editorial decisions, which themselves are engendered by the historical context.

Full Product Details

Author:   David Banks
Publisher:   Equinox Publishing Ltd
Imprint:   Equinox Publishing Ltd
Weight:   0.001kg
ISBN:  

9781781792322


ISBN 10:   1781792321
Pages:   277
Publication Date:   15 February 2017
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1Getting things started: by way of introduction Janet JoyceChapter 2Linguistic background Janet JoyceChapter 3Historical background David BanksChapter 4The documents to be used: a corpus David BanksChapter 5Thematic structure: a starting point David BanksChapter 6Transitivity: actions, events, states David BanksChapter 7Modality: possibility, ability, obligation David BanksChapter 8Nominalization: reifying processes David BanksChapter 9Winding up and winding down: by way of conclusion David BanksEnd MatterAppendices David BanksReferences David Banks

Reviews

This book by David Banks differs from other works published on academic articles (Bazerman 1988 or Gross 1996) in that it develops a linguistic analytical approach rather than treating the texts from a rhetorical and sociolinguistic viewpoint as had been done before. Moreover, it provides very useful information on the methodology used to compile and analyze such a diachronic corpus. All in all, the reviewer feels that this book should be read by linguists interested in the diachronic study of specialized languages, as well as by linguists who still need to be convinced that diachrony is indeed an essential tool to understand contemporary scientific English. ASp, la Revue du GERAS A pioneering work in the field of studying scientific texts of different languages from a systemic functional perspective, thereby presenting research of much practical implication. As such, it is highly recommended for scholars with SFL background or interested in academic discourse analysis. Discourse Studies Some interesting structural features of writing for early learned periodicals do indeed emerge that could probably not have been arrived at by any other method. Banks is able to show that superficial similarities between the periodicals—for example, in the distribution of grammatical functions of thematic structure— mask significant differences when broken down by semantic category (indicating, for instance, a greater emphasis on physical description and on the objects of study in Transactions and on people and authors in Journal). He traces significant increases in structural markers of interest in “material actions and events” in both periodicals over the thirty years under review—an intriguing finding, given that the generally higher proportion of these in Transactions is attributed to its greater scientific preoccupation but that Banks reports no corresponding increase in the number of items treating scientific subjects in Journal. Isis The book is useful in the field of specialised scientific language that is needed in order to get one’s work published in scientific journals in both Anglophone and non-Anglophone scientific writing communities. The promise that the book makes by drawing on Michael Halliday’s language as a social semiotic makes it an even empowering asset to both Master’s and Doctoral students working in the broad research area of Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL), beyond both the historical and social contexts of the two journals it has analysed. Professional and Academic English Journal


...A pioneering work in the field of studying scientific texts of different languages from a systemic functional perspective, thereby presenting research of much practical implication. As such, it is highly recommended for scholars with SFL background or interested in academic discourse analysis. --Peipei Jia, Discourse Studies 20(3)


.. .A pioneering work in the field of studying scientific texts of different languages from a systemic functional perspective, thereby presenting research of much practical implication. As such, it is highly recommended for scholars with SFL background or interested in academic discourse analysis. --Peipei Jia, Discourse Studies 20(3)


Author Information

David Banks is Emeritus Professor of English Linguistics at the Universite de Bretagne Occidentale, Brest, France.

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