Pauper Letters and Petitions for Poor Relief In Germany and Great Britain 1770-1914

历史研究表明，人们对下层阶级的生活见证和文献产生了新的、更浓厚的兴趣。在这种情况下，德国历史学家迄今很少注意过去几年来英国研究中越来越感兴趣的来源，即由贫民或为贫民向其家乡教区申请救济而写的信件、申请书和请愿书。这种“贫民叙事”在英国和德国的档案馆中保存着，通常数量很大，并与乞讨信和其他叙事一起保存。本项目建议：在线收集和编辑1770年至1914年期间英国和德国可比社区的一系列贫民叙事;分析这些叙事的语言结构和内容。这项工作将在三个层次上完成：以信息技术为基础分析叙述形式之间的语言异同;对每种叙述形式中反复出现的短语、修辞形式和战略推理进行定量研究;将叙述的语言内容与普通人写的或为普通人写的其他材料，包括自传、激进的演讲和家庭信件，进行系统的比较;使用这些资源和语言分析，以探讨问题，如程度，其中英国和德国穷人声称或发展机构时，它涉及到的权利;使用政治语言和参与政治进程的穷人;策略和修辞方法（包括例如声称属于或基督教的责任），由穷人建立或维持应得的。

Historical research has shown a new and intensified interest in life testimonies and documents of the lower classes. In this context German historians have so far paid little attention to sources which have met with increasing interest in British research over the past years, namely letters, applications and petitions written by or for paupers to their home parish in order to apply for relief. Such 'pauper narratives' are preserved in British as well as in German archives, often in large numbers and alongside begging letters and other narratives.This project proposes: to collect and edit on-line a range of pauper narratives from comparable British and German communities over the period between 1770 and 1914; to analyse the linguistic structure and content of these narratives. This will be accomplished at three levels: an IT-based analysis of the linguistic similarities and differences between narrative forms; the quantitative study of recurring phrases, rhetorical forms and strategic reasoning within each narrative form; and the systematic comparison of the linguistic content of narratives with a corpus of other material written by or for ordinary people, including autobiographies, radical speeches and familial letters; the use of these sources and the linguistic analysis to explore issues such as the degree to, which the British and German poor claimed or developed agency when it came to entitlement; the use of political language and participation in the political process by the poor; and-the strategic and rhetorical methods (including for instance claiming belonging or Christian duty) used, by the poor to establish or maintain deservingness.