Worlds of Words: Complexity, Creativity, and Conventionality in English Language, Literature and Culture (Volume 1)

The volume collects articles which discuss complexity, conventionality and creativity in the English language from perspectives as diverse as specialised discourse, language teaching and learning, language varieties, lexical creativity, stylistics, knowledge dissemination through the media and audio-visual translation. It offers a multifaceted picture of the ways in which opposing forces exerted by conventionality and creativity contribute to shaping all levels of the linguistic system. The interpretive paradigm is offered by the theory of complex systems, a rich research framework attempting to describe and explain the dynamics which emerge in the many forms of situational adaptation of natural systems. Norms and conventions are, in fact, constantly exploited and manipulated through the creative behaviour of language users. This may lead to unpredictable synchronic effects and variation and, ultimately, to diachronic innovation.