This special issue of The International Journal of the Sociology of Language, devoted entirely to issues of language and gender in the Mediterranean region, encompasses a number of excellent contributions on language and gender in Spain, Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and the diaspora, within a multi-disciplinary perspective bringing together the insights, methodologies, and concerns of sociolinguistics, discourse analysis, literary theory, history, and gender studies..

    The articles deal with issues related to orality (i.e. the heard and spoken language), investigating memories of feelings and events in which language itself is implicated. A whole array of subjects have been covered here, mainly cultural products such as proverbs, conversations, greetings, compliments, polite formulas, which are an integral part of social behavior.