Abstract
In this volume we focus on different types of manners, norms and their transgressions. One kind of transgression can be called “blunders” and deals with violations of accepted behaviour, conduct or manners. A second kind draws more attention to language use in interpersonal communication with violations of pragmatic principles or breaking the norms of appropriate writing styles. In this introduction, we first outline the change in the appropriation of manners in different periods discussed in this book. We then proceed to the theoretical background and suggest an overall line of diachronic changes. Our approach falls at the interface between language and literature, which is discussed before the chapter summaries.