Late modern youth style in interaction

In this paper I discuss the sociolinguistic and socio-political consequences of employing notions of ‘ethnolect’ and ‘multiethnolect’ in connection with a particular urban youth style of Danish. Such terms foreground ethnicity as an explanatory social category in relation to linguistic behaviour. From an interactional sociolinguistic approach I examine how linguistic resources associated with the urban youth style are used to construct and negotiate identity and social relationships in interaction among adolescents in a multicultural area of Copenhagen. On the basis of the analyses I discuss whether the use of late modern urban stylistic features brings ethnic identity aspects into focus. My analyses suggest that in these interactions the late modern urban stylistic features are used for construction of a tough masculine identity.