Foreword

The volume aims at investigating the resources offered by the English language to speakers and authors operating in different contexts, genres, and epochs. This spirit is reflected in the choice of the title, «A Language of One’s Own», which alludes to Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay borrowing the assertion of an individual’s right to his/her suitable space, be it physical or, as in this case, linguistic. All the contributions in the volume clearly show that, even though the precept of following norms has always been favoured as the safest option, both in the use of language and in adherence to the models put forward by canonical authors in literature, the man in the street and the artist alike strive to find their distinctive voice, one that allows them to be distinguished from the mass. The literary essays focus attention on Charles Lamb, James Joyce, Tom Stoppard, Jhumpa Lahiri, Ophelia Zepeda and other contemporary Native American poets. On the linguistic side, attention is devoted to the representation and translation of youth subculture and conversational routines in audiovisual texts. The volume closes on two interviews concerning the role of the literary translator and the application of stylistics to both literary and linguistic studies.