This volume explores linguistic diversity and complexity in a range of urban contexts, a number of which have been subject to relatively little or no sociolinguistic inquiry, especially in English. It seeks to diversify the sites under investigation in urban multilingualism studies, and advocates an exploration of multilingual practices that is not restricted to the large-scale contemporary Western metropolis. A novel mixture of cities from around the world is therefore studied, from megacities and lesser-known communities within well-researched cities to smaller cities on the national periphery, representing diverse types, sizes, contexts and languages.
We recognise that linguistic diversity and complexity exist beyond urban contexts and their presence in suburban and rural environments also deserve investigation. We are also aware that much current sociolinguistic scholarship may well be skewed towards cities and shaped by whatBritain (2017,2022) terms ‘the urban gaze’, where the notion of ‘the city’ is heavily influenced by preconceptions and ideological discourses of the urban (e.g. the city as diverse, innovative, multicultural etc.). Nevertheless, this volume focuses on urban contexts, viewed not as an explanatory concept but as sites where features under investigation may be more visible, more intensive or more frequent than outside cities and “therefore perhaps more noteworthy, more reportable” (Britain 2022: 70).
All chapters of this volume address multilingual and/or pluricentric aspects of linguistic diversity in urban areas, with the majority focusing on one urban centre. Six contributions investigate cities in Europe, while the remaining six focus on cities located on five other continents, namely Africa, Asia, North America, Oceania and South America. The sites include: Biel/Bienne and Fribourg/Freiburg (Switzerland), Dublin (Ireland), Jakarta (Indonesia), Kotka and Mariehamn (Finland), Melbourne
