Speech style and the construction of social division: Evidence from Greek television

The fiction of modernity has constructed a rigid social class landscape. However, it has been claimed that late modern forms of social life have led to the erosion, or even the death of social class. Against this backdrop, the aim of the present study is to explore how social division is depicted in today's late modern Greek television, and what the role of speech style to this process is. The stylistic analysis of the two central characters of the TV series suggests that the traditional discourse of class society is reproduced. Nevertheless, this discourse seems to be challenged when some peripheral characters of the series are examined. It appears that Greek television eventually promotes the contemporary discourse of classlessness. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.