Analogy in history. A corpus-based study

Over the last few years, there has been a remarkable spate of interest for history. Thus, this academic discipline has been tackled for the captivating co-presence of argumentative components in professional historians' scientific prose. However, in spite of the inspiring nature of available studies, only tangentially have scholars examined the inherently textual dimension of historicla argumentation. The aim of this paper is thus to bring insights into the linguistic construction of argumentation in historicla text, by choosing argument by analogy as a case in point. By combining quantitative with qualitative methods, findings from a corpus of authentic historical research articles show that analogy is a chiefly interactive device, which combines with a set of discursive tools securing a fruitful relationship between writers and readers in the development of historical narrative and argument.