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4. RHETORIC AND THE WORLD OF SCIENCE IN THE EModE PERIOD<br />

To sum up, the number of literate people remarkably increased in this period<br />

thanks not only to the new free schools which spread literacy among all levels of society,<br />

but especially because of the new conception of literacy, which was regarded as a<br />

requirement for improving social and economical status.<br />

4.4.2. Audience, readership and discourse community<br />

The concepts of audience, readership and discourse community are closely interconnected<br />

and sometimes audience and readership are even used as synonyms. As stated in the<br />

previous section, the level of literacy remarkably increased during the EModE period, so<br />

that it may be rewarding to know who these readers were since they may have had an<br />

impact on the kind of writings of the time. However, first of all, the concepts of audience,<br />

readership and discourse community should be discussed and clarified.<br />

4.4.2.1. Audience<br />

On account of its centrality in the rhetoric of writing, many studies have dealt with the<br />

concept of audience from very different perspectives (Ong 1975; Overington 1977; Park<br />

1982). This section summarizes these views and also focuses on the audience of EModE<br />

scientific texts.<br />

Park (1982: 249) establishes two different meanings for the concept of “audience.”<br />

On the one hand, it refers to the “actual people external to a text, the audience to whom<br />

the writer must accommodate.” On the other, “a set of suggested or evoked attitudes,<br />

interests, reactions, conditions of knowledge which may or may not fit with the qualities<br />

of actual readers or listeners.” As opposed to speakers, writers do not have their audiences<br />

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