Article published In: Journal of Historical Pragmatics
Vol. 24:2 (2023) ► pp.217–244
Story, style, and structure
The second person in early Uruguayan children’s literature
Published online: 5 September 2023
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.20001.moy
https://doi.org/10.1075/jhp.20001.moy
Abstract
This study analyses variation and change in Uruguayan Spanish address between formal (usted) and
informal variants (tú, vos). It focusses on address representations in children’s literature written between 1918
and 1973 – foundational texts that helped consolidate national identity. Our study answers the following questions: (a) What were
the most frequent pronominal and verbal address forms employed in early Uruguayan children’s literature? (b) What were their pragmatic
and stylistic contexts of use? And (c) To what extent did those forms and uses differ from their contemporary counterparts? The
second-person pronouns and verbs from eleven children’s books were analysed quantitatively to establish frequencies. We found that
early children’s literature presented usted and tú as the urban norm. Vernacular
vos was practically absent until the 1940s, and afterwards it was found only in specific constrained
contexts. This differs markedly from contemporary literature for children, which favours voseo and reflects
orality quite accurately.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Background
- 2.1Uruguay: Borderlands, state, and nation
- 2.2Children’s literature and nation-building
- 2.3Forms of Address in usp
- 3.Methodology
- 3.1Sources
- 3.2Data collection
- 3.3Analysis
- 4.Results
- 4.1Formal versus informal address
- 4.2Tuteo versus voseo address
- 4.3Chronology for address representation
- 4.4Partial qualitative findings
- 5.Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
Primary Sources References
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