Chapter 6. Paratext and ideology in 17th-century news genres. A comparative discourse analysis of paratextual elements in news broadside ballads and occasional news pamphlets

This contribution examines the way in which ideology and the (changing) socio-cultural news values of the time can be mapped onto the news presentation strategies adopted in the paratext of 17th-century news broadside ballads and occasional news pamphlets. Based on Genette’s (1997) notion of paratext and on Hyland’s (2005) model of metadiscourse, the comparative discourse analysis focuses on the paratextual components found in the initial and terminal paratext of each news genre. The results show that the ideological imperatives of the Church along with people’s increasing interest in objective and fact-centered news had a determining role in the choice of the author’s and publisher’s metadiscourse resources across the century.