Z badań nad dyskursem okołoprawnym: gatunki paratekstowe w szesnastowiecznych edycjach statutów
Studying Law-Related Discourse: Paratext Genres in the 16th-Century Editions of Statutes

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyzes texts that frame the 16th-century legal codexes, i.e. marginal comments that accompany the main body of the text and are usually situated in the initial part of the publication. The following types of paratexts which belong to the meta-legal discourse of the epoch in question have been distinguished: dedicatory letters, prefaces to the reader, appeals, memoranda, commentaries, registers, instructions, laudatory poems (songs, epigrams), customary inscriptions, epigraphs (adages, proverbs), publisher’s notes. The article points out generic features of the most important types of paratexts with respect to their composition, function and style. Pragmalinguistic and stylistic analysis of the texts confirms that the authors made use of elements of legal language, included allusions to legislation, provided evaluation of particular legislative accomplishments, etc. Hence, the existing linguistic clichés were employed so as to present the legal culture of the epoch against the social, cognitive, axiological and communicative background.

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