A textual and discourse analysis of (some) English traditional Christmas carols

This chapter presents an analysis of eight English traditional Christmas car ols made combining the principles and methods of text linguistics and prac tical stylistics. The paper proposes a new categorisation of Christmas carols based on two macro-categories: Christian-themed and non-Christian-themed carols. Four carols were selected for each category and analysed synchroni cally (i.e., in the versions known and sung today) and contrastively to identify differences and common features. The linguistic analysis was complemented by an examination of the correspondence between lyrics and music. The re sults indicate that Christmas carols constitute a sui-generis, distinct text type characterised by a variety of themes, discursive patterns and tunes which mix es together Christianity and folk-religiosity. Ultimately, this exploratory study provides an analytical framework for future research on this topi