Includes bibliographical references.

Part I. Theoretical Foundations -- Part II. Linguistics and pragmatics -- Part III. Discourse -- Part IV. The pragmatics of utterance -- Part V. Cultural perspectives .

This volume is part of the series "Pragmatics, Philosophy and Psychology", edited for Springer by Alessandro Capone. It is intended for an audience of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as postgraduate and advanced researchers. This volume focuses on societal pragmatics. One of the main concerns of societal pragmatics is the world of language users. We are interested in the investigation of linguistic practices in the context of societal practices ("praxis", to use a term used in the Wittgensteinian and other traditions). It is clear that the world of users, including their practices, their culture, and their social aims has to be taken into account and seriously investigated when we deal with the pragmatics of language. It is not enough to discuss principles of language use solely in the guise of abstract theoretical tools.