The evolution of self-mentioning in 18thc CETA and CHET Coruña Corpus

Résumé

The present article explores self-mentioning through the use of the pronouns I and we. Although authorial voice has been the object of several studies diachronically and in present day academic writing, it has not been so deeply analyzed by contrasting disciplines in earlier "learned" scientific works. Groundwork for this study are Hyland's (2001, 2002, 2005, 2012) present-day findings with respect to a higher use of first personal pronouns in "hard" sciences as compared to "soft" ones, and the decrease of these pronouns use during the 18th C claimed by authors like Harmon & Reidy (2002) or Aitkinson (1996) and Gunnarsson (2011). CETA and CHET from the Coruna Corpus provide the necessary data with texts than run parallel to hard sciences and humanities. This will be the basis to elucidate if the modern perception of more authorial presence in the latter discipline was also the same in the 18th C and if there are factors that may contribute to differences or similarities.