The pluralism Moedstia is a form of the plural, which is to express modesty. Literally, Pluralis Modestiae means “plural of modesty” and is often equated with the author plural (→ Pluralis Auctoris).
The Pluralis Modestiae sees from the I-form in texts, speeches, and other linguistic utterances and instead uses the plural form We instead of I.
In this way, the author is certainly included in the author’s thoughts and reflections by the author. The speaker, or even the person who writes, goes into the background and makes a sentence a common thing.
Example of the Pluralis Moedstiae
Let us suppose that at a football match the winning goal was shot by a player in the last minute and the game has therefore decided. In a subsequent interview, the goalkeeper then says the following sentence and takes himself back a bit.
“We won the game and scored the last minute.”
This is worth mentioning inasmuch as the pluralism Majestatis, that is, the majestic plural, does exactly the same thing and is nevertheless to be distinguished from the pluralism Modestiae. Here, too, a ruler also speaks of a “we”, even if in the real sense he means only himself.
But even if basically the same structure prevails, the basic idea is different. For in contrast to the Majestatis pluralism, which illustrates the power of speech, the author takes a step backwards and turns the ego into a solidarity.
This means that the pluralism Modestiae and Auctoris are opposed to the pluralism of Majestatis and are fundamentally different from one another in the core.
Examples of the pluralism Modestiae
If we remember back to school or the university, we realize that we often encounter the pluralism Modestiae in everyday life and often simply accept it. Whoever reads the last sentence again sees that this self is true.
A teacher or lecturer could begin a lecture as follows:
“Today we want to deal with the topic […] once more precisely.” Or “Where have we stopped last week”?
After reading this post, you might say:
“We did it!”, So as not to use the phrase “I did it!”.
