“With kindest regards”. Relational Work, Social Identity and (Hyper)politeness in Late Modern English Documents

In Late Modern times, both usage guides and letter-writing manuals commented on language etiquette, providing guidance on how to address specific recipients according to their rank, age, and gender, how to approach certain topics, and how to convey mutual status relying exclusively on language. Guides and manuals, however, cannot always be assumed to be accurate representations of what actually occurred in usage. In this contribution I intend to investigate these materials alongside authentic ones, in order to assess the extent to which texts convey their writers’ awareness of asymmetrical social status by placing particular emphasis on politeness moves. Special attention is paid to business discourse, where identity construal issues are crucial for the maintenance of successful networks.