This article explores the concept of taboo language, which involves both language that references taboos and language that is itself forbidden. Taboo language reflects social relationships and hierarchies, varying in form and application across cultures. The article distinguishes between taboo reference, predication, and words, discussing their offensive potential and the role of censorship in maintaining taboos. Taboo avoidance and taboo exploitation are discussed. Swear words are examined as a special category of taboo language, often associated with strong emotions and societal norms. The article concludes by noting the dynamic nature of taboo language and its significance in cultural and linguistic contexts.

År 2017 inrättades en pedagogisk meriteringsmodell vid Södertörns högskola.Modellens konstruktion byggde på en komplex ansöknings- och bedömningsprocesssom omfattade flera steg i olika forum: förutom sedvanlig skriftlig ansökan med pedagogiskportfölj som bedömdes av externa sakkunniga ingick även en auskultation ochen intervju som genomfördes av en meriteringskommitté bestående av interna ochexterna ledamöter samt studentrepresentant. Totalt sjutton lärare ansökte om pedagogiskmeritering under två omgångar (2018–2019), utav dessa utnämndes sex läraresom excellenta och fem som meriterade medan sex sökande inte placerades ini meriteringsmodellen. Modellen utvärderades 2019 och 2020, och efter ett uppehållär det sedan 2021 åter i gång i reviderad form. I detta kapitel delar tidigare sökandeoch före detta ledamöter i meriteringskommittén med sig av sina olika erfarenheterav denna modell. Tillsammans redovisar vi diskussioner och argument som föregickmodellen och dess utformning, hur det var att ansöka och bli bedömd inom ramen förmodellen, och hur det var att genomföra bedömningen av de sökandes ansökningari egenskap av ledamot. Vidare diskuteras utmaningar och identifierade problem medmeriteringsmodellen. Avslutningsvis ges en sammanfattning av ändringar i modellensom föranleddes av upplevda problem samt slutsatser från utvärderingarna.

This article explores unsolicited dick pics-explicit digital images of male genitalia sent via web or mobile technology-by analyzing their representation in Swedish feminist comic art. Drawing on the work of Swedish comic artists Nanna Johansson and Ellen Ekman, the study illustrates how comic art satirizes the unsolicited dick pic as a form of communicative failure. Using principles of interaction analysis, particularly the concept of pre-sequences, the article argues that the abrupt, non-consensual nature of unsolicited dick pics violates established norms of interaction. While comics deploy humor to expose and resist the practice, this strategy also risks trivializing the harm and normalizing sexual harassment. Ultimately, the article positions comic art as a uniquely effective yet double-edged medium: it both critiques the dick pic's unsolicited nature and contributes to a broader discourse that may either resist or reinforce its normalization in digital culture. Comic art is highlighted for its ability to complement empirical studies to better understand the problematics of unsolicited dick pics.

Comics, Activism, Feminisms explores from both historical and contemporary perspectives how comic art, activism, and feminisms are intertwined, and how comic art itself can be a form of activism. Feminist comic art emerged with the second-wave feminist movements. Today, there are comics connected to social activist movements working for change in a variety of areas. Comics artists often respond quickly to political events, making comics on topical issues that take a critical or satirical stance and highlighting the need for change. Comic art can point to problems, present alternatives, and give hope. Comics artists from all parts of the world engage issues pertaining to feminisms and LGBTQIA+ issues, war and political conflict, climate crisis, the global migrant and refugee situation, and other societal problems. The chapters of this anthology illuminate the aesthetic and thematic aspects of comics, activism, and feminisms globally. Particular attention is given to the work of comics collectives, where Do-it-Ourselves is a strategy among activism-oriented artists, which use a great variety of media, such as fanzines, albums, webcomics, and exhibitions to communicate and disseminate activist comic art. Comics, Activism, Feminisms is an essential anthology for scholars and students of comics studies, literary studies, art history, media studies, and gender studies. 

The sitcom Superstore aired on NBC from 2015 to 2021. In its sixth and final season (ending March 2021), the series explicitly addressed how the coronavirus pandemic affected the working conditions of the staff and management of “Cloud 9”—a fictional big-box store based in Saint Louis, Missouri. This chapter examines the ways in which the character interaction serves two distinct functions: first, to provide the viewing audience with general information about the coronavirus and the pandemic; and second, to depict the difficulties of dealing with the pandemic as an essential worker. The series uses humor to problematize the essential worker status of the Cloud 9 employees as superordinate to their status of individuals with a right to protect their health and minimize exposure to the virus.

Feminism and the City (FATC, 2021) is a Ukrainian comic book based on a series of online feminist blog posts authored by Emma Antoniuk, a columnist for the website Gender in Detail. FATC promotes an awareness of gender discrimination, thematizes critical feminist concerns, and suggests ready-made strategies for activism in the pursuit of gender justice. The comic book comprises ten free-standing stories, each of which depicts Emma's experiences or observations of life from a feminist perspective. Common to each of the stories is Emma's enthusiastic advocacy for gender justice in Ukraine that has characterised her life and career path. The present chapter represents a brief and targeted analysis of FATC as an example of feminist activism in the Ukrainian context. We approach FATC as a feminist activist field guide, focusing on two stories that explicitly engage with language usage and thus showcase the interplay of image and text, taking advantage of the comics medium both to depict potential scenarios and to model linguistic strategies of feminist activism. This chapter specifically highlights two critical aspects of promoting feminist activism: gender-fair language and discourse strategies of advocacy.

This chapter explores the status of English-language popular culture throughout the Nordic countries with regard to its relation to attitudes toward English and its effect on everyday discourse. The traditions and contemporary developments of English as an academic subject in the Nordic countries reveal an important shift in the symbolic capital of English. While English as a linguistic system and Anglophone literature and culture once symbolized erudition and high intellectual pursuits, the abstract idea and concrete manifestations of English in the Nordic countries are now more likely to invoke Anglophone popular culture and media artifacts. However, the close association between popular culture and the English language has fostered a Nordic-wide relationship to English that deviates from native Anglophone norms, whereby the filtering of English through popular culture encourages the use of English as a language of play and imbues a distance to its affective properties. The chapter presents a pan-Nordic overview of the rise of Anglophone popular culture and the effects of the stronghold that the English language enjoys in the Nordic countries as a result of the wholesale adoption of English-language popular culture. 

This article introduces broad strands of research on swearing as a foundation for an interpersonal pragmatics (IP) approach to the nature and effects of swearing in interaction and relationships. The main tenets of interpersonal pragmatics are presented, and swearing as a distinct research focus within IP is outlined. The article invokes pragmatic perspectives in addressing both negative and positive functions of swearing. The central focus on IP is developed by considering the mutual interplay between language and relationships in swearing activity. With respect to communicative context, it is noted that swearing both emerges within interpersonal relationships, and simultaneously provides a context for different types of interpersonal relationships to unfold (endogenous vs. exogenous IP perspectives). By way of introducing the special issue on swearing and interpersonal pragmatics and the constituent articles, it asserts the need to account for swearing as an interpersonal pragmatic strategy and to analyse the causes and effects of swearing in different contexts. The article concludes with a discussion of future research directions, including, in particular, swearing in mediated settings. 

This chapter provides an overview of the volume’s background, contents, and structure, explaining the foundational theoretical underpinnings, premises, and organizing principles. In addition to defining and delineating the nation-states encompassed by the term “Nordic countries,” the chapter also explicitly discusses and contextualizes the similarities and the differences between the languages and societies of the Nordic countries. The main focus, however, is on identifying what makes these countries a cohesive and coherent unit of study - in general, but especially with regard to shared social, cultural, and linguistic aspects as unifying themes among the Nordic countries. Importantly, this introductory chapter critically addresses the common narrative of the “rise” or “triumph” of English and the frequent framing of the spread of English in the Nordics as a success story.