'I never could forget my darling mother': the language of recollection in a corpus of female Irish emigrant correspondence



Moreton, Emma ORCID: 0000-0003-4182-4586
(2016) 'I never could forget my darling mother': the language of recollection in a corpus of female Irish emigrant correspondence. The History of the Family, 21 (3). pp. 315-336.

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Abstract

The post-famine period from the 1850s to the 1920s was a time that saw a significant increase in female migration from Ireland to North America. A small glimpse into the lives of these women – their preoccupations, feelings, perceptions and beliefs – can be found in the letters they wrote home to their families. This article uses a mixed methods approach to analyse the letters of one female Irish emigrant called Julia Lough. First, a close, qualitative reading of the letters is carried out to identify topics and themes within the discourse. Computational methods are then used to examine the language of one of those topics - ‘Recollections’ - to see what linguistic patterns emerge. The essay concludes by discussing how memories of events, people and places contribute to a sense of closeness and attachment between author and recipient.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: migration history, personal correspondence, corpus linguistics, digital humanities, emotions history
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 04 Oct 2019 14:12
Last Modified: 19 Jan 2023 00:24
DOI: 10.1080/1081602X.2016.1155469
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3056901