This volume presents an interactional perspective on linguistic variability that takes into
account the construction of social identities through the formation of social communicative
styles. It shows that style is a useful category in bridging the gap between single parameter
variation and social identity. Social positioning i.e. finding one's place in society is one
of its motivating forces.Various aspects of the expression of stylistic features are focused on
from language choice and linguistic variation in a narrow sense to practices of social
categorization pragmatics patterns preferences for specific communicative genres rhetorical
practices including prosodic features and aesthetic choices and preferences for specific forms
of taste (looks clothes music etc.). These various features of expression are connected to
multimodal stylistic indices through talk thus styles emerge from discourse. Styles are
adapted to changing contexts and develop in thecourse of social processes.The analytical
perspective chosen proposes an alternative to current approaches to variability under the
influence of the so-called variationist paradigm.
