In this seminar, we will explore how linguistic choices contribute to the broad idea of identity as it is embedded in social contexts. As Eckert (2018:159) writes, “one way or another, every stylistic move is the result of an interpretation of the social world and of the meanings of elements within it, as well as a positioning of the stylizer with respect to that world”. We will discuss individual style and the concept and effects of style shifting, speaker and audience design, styling and stylization.

The first half of the seminar will remain close to theoretical frameworks of style, with the second half of term branching out to secondary texts and application of theories to music, film and television, and literary texts. Here, we focus on questions of authenticity, appropriation of style, and performance.