1887
  1. Home
  2. e-Journals
  3. Linguistic Landscape
  4. Volume 6, Issue 2
  5. Article
Volume 6, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2214-9953
  • E-ISSN: 2214-9961
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

Abstract

The island of Cyprus and Nicosia, its capital, have been divided by a UN-controlled buffer zone since the 1974 war. The ease of movement restrictions in 2003 saw Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots crossing into each other’s area after 30 years of complete separation and increased mobility, especially through the UN-controlled buffer zone at the Ledras Street crossing-point in Nicosia, interjected a new dynamic in the area. The analysis of photographic data collected over a period of three years from the Linguistic Landscape of the buffer zone reveals that ephemeral signs in Greek, Turkish, and English are used to establish connections and strengthen social ties between the former enemies, and to project ideologies that go against popular nationalist narratives. By adopting new conceptualisations of the term ‘community’ (Blokland, 2017), this study discusses how a new, imagined community can emerge in conflict-ridden contexts through the display of written public signs in the Linguistic Landscape.

© John Benjamins Publishing Company
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ll.19030.the
2020-07-14
2023-03-30

  • From This Site

    /content/journals/10.1075/ll.19030.the
    dcterms_title,dcterms_subject,pub_keyword
    -contentType:Journal -contentType:Contributor -contentType:Concept -contentType:Institution
    10
    5
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Akçalı, E.
    (2011) Getting real on fluctuating national identities: Insights from Northern Cyprus, Antipode, 43 (5), 1725–1747. 10.1111/j.1467‑8330.2010.00787.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00787.x [Google Scholar]
  2. Amara, M.
    (2019) Arabisation, globalisation, and Hebraisation reflexes in shop names in the Palestinian Arab Linguistic Landscape in Israel. Language and Intercultural Communication, 19 (3), 272–288. 10.1080/14708477.2018.1556676
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2018.1556676 [Google Scholar]
  3. Antifa λευkoşa
    Antifa λευkoşa (2014) Ποιοί είμαστε [Who we are] Retrieved on13 January 2020, fromhttps://antifanicosia.espivblogs.net/
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Ben-Rafael, E. , Shohamy, E. , Amara, M. H. , & Trumper-Hecht, N.
    (2006) Linguistic Landscape as symbolic construction of the public space: The case of Israel. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3 (1), 7–30. 10.1080/14790710608668383
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710608668383 [Google Scholar]
  5. Bilkic, M.
    (2018) Emplacing hate: Turbulent Graffscapes and linguistic violence in post- war Bosnia-Herzegovina. Linguistic Landscape, 4 (1), 1–28. 10.1075/ll.17011.bil
     https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.17011.bil [Google Scholar]
  6. Block, D.
    (2006) Multilingual identities in a global city. London: Routledge. 10.1057/9780230501393
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230501393 [Google Scholar]
  7. Blokland, T.
    (2017) Community as urban practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  8. Blommaert, J.
    (2013) Ethnography, superdiversity and Linguistic Landscapes: Chronicles of complexity. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781783090419
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781783090419 [Google Scholar]
  9. Blommaert, J. , & Backus, A.
    (2011) Repertoires revisited: ‘Knowing language’ in superdiversity. Working Papers in Urban Language & Literacies, 67, 1–26.
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Bucholtz, M.
    (1999) “Why be normal?”: Language and identity practices in a community of nerd girls. Language in Society, 28 (2), 203–223. 10.1017/S0047404599002043
     https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404599002043 [Google Scholar]
  11. Charalambous, C. , Charalambous, P. & Zembylas, M.
    (2013) Doing ‘Leftist propaganda’ or working towards peace? Moving Greek-Cypriot peace education struggles beyond local political complexities. Journal of Peace Education, 10 (1), 67–87. 10.1080/17400201.2012.741522
     https://doi.org/10.1080/17400201.2012.741522 [Google Scholar]
  12. Charalambous, P. , Charalambous, C. & Zembylas, M.
    (2014) Old and new policies in dialogue: Greek-Cypriot teachers’ interpretations of a peace-related initiative through existing policy discourses. British Educational Research Journal, 40 (1), 79–101. 10.1002/berj.3030
     https://doi.org/10.1002/berj.3030 [Google Scholar]
  13. Dembinska, M.
    (2017) The imagined ‘other’ and its shifts: politics and identifications in Turkish Cyprus. National Identities, 19 (4), 395–413. 10.1080/14608944.2016.1189409
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14608944.2016.1189409 [Google Scholar]
  14. Dimou, N.
    (n.d.). Δεν ξεχνώ [Remember Cyprus]. Retrieved on13 January 2020, fromwww.ndimou.gr/en/cv/remember-cyprus/
  15. Fishman, J. A.
    (1971) Sociolinguistics. Rowley: Newbury House.
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Gee, J. P.
    (2005) Semiotic social spaces and affinity spaces: From The Age of Mythology to today’s schools. In D. Barton & K. Tusting (Eds.), Beyond Communities of Practice: Language, power and social context, (pp.214–232). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511610554.012
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511610554.012 [Google Scholar]
  17. Hadjioannou, X. , Tsiplakou, S. , & Kappler, M.
    (2011) Language policy and language planning in Cyprus. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12 (4), 503–569. 10.1080/14664208.2011.629113
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2011.629113 [Google Scholar]
  18. Heller, M.
    (2007) Bilingualism as ideology and practice. In M. Heller (Ed.), Bilingualism: A social approach (pp.1–22). London: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9780230596047_1
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230596047_1 [Google Scholar]
  19. Jenjekwa, V. , & Barnes, L.
    (2018) Changes in the Linguistic Landscape resulting from Zimbabwe’s post-2000 land reforms: Recasting the First and Second Chimurenga narratives. Language Matters, 49 (3), 67–85. 10.1080/10228195.2018.1539119
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10228195.2018.1539119 [Google Scholar]
  20. Jewson, N.
    (2007) Cultivating network analysis: rethinking the concept of ‘community’ within ‘communities of practice’. In J. Hughes , N. Jewson & L. Unwin (Eds.), Communities of Practice: Critical perspectives (pp.68–82). London: Routledge. 10.4324/NOE0415364737.ch6
     https://doi.org/10.4324/NOE0415364737.ch6 [Google Scholar]
  21. Kallen, J.
    (2010) Changing landscapes: Language, space and policy in the Dublin Linguistic Landscape. In A. Jaworski , & C. Thurlow (Eds.). Semiotic Landscapes: Language, image, space (pp.41–58). London: Continuum.
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Karoulla-Vrikkis, D.
    (2010) 50 years of language policy in the Republic of Cyprus. Promotion of Greek, Cypriot or European identity?In C. Perikleous (Ed.), Republic of Cyprus 50 Years: A Painful Path (pp.130–157). Athens: Papazisi.
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Karyolemou, M.
    (2003) ‘Keep your language and I will keep mine’: Politics, language, and the construction of identities in Cyprus. In M. Dedaić , & D. Nelson (Eds.), At War with Words (pp.359–384). Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. 10.1515/9783110897715.359
     https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110897715.359 [Google Scholar]
  24. Labov, W.
    (1972) Sociolinguistic patterns (No.4). Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Lai, M. L.
    (2013) The linguistic landscape of Hong Kong after the change of sovereignty. International Journal of Multilingualism, 10 (3), 251–272. 10.1080/14790718.2012.708036
     https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2012.708036 [Google Scholar]
  26. Landry, R. , & Bourhis, R.
    (1997) Linguistic Landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16 (1), 23–49. 10.1177/0261927X970161002
     https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X970161002 [Google Scholar]
  27. Lave, J. , & Wenger, E.
    (1991) Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 10.1017/CBO9780511815355
     https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511815355 [Google Scholar]
  28. Left initiative – We want federation
    Left initiative – We want federation (2019) About us. Retrieved on13 January 2020, fromhttps://www.omospondia.net/
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Li, Wei
    (2018) Translanguaging as a practical theory of languages. Applied Linguistics, 39 (1), 9–30. 10.1093/applin/amx039
     https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039 [Google Scholar]
  30. Mac Giolla Chríost, D.
    (2007) Language and the city, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9780230598928
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230598928 [Google Scholar]
  31. (2003) Language, identity and conflict: A comparative study of language in ethnic conflict in Europe and Eurasia. London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Makriyianni, C. , Psaltis, C. , & Latif, D.
    (2011) History teaching in Cyprus. In E. Erdmann , & W. Hasberg (Eds.), Facing mapping, bridging diversity: Foundations of a European discourse on history education (pp.91–138). Germany: Wochen Schau Wissenschaft.
     [Google Scholar]
  33. Mallinson, W.
    (2009) A modern history of Cyprus. London: I. B. Tauris. 10.5040/9780755618866
     https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755618866 [Google Scholar]
  34. Mavratsas, C.
    (2001) Greek-Cypriot identity and conflicting interpretations of the Cyprus problem. In Keridis, D. and Triantaphyllou, D. (eds) Greek-Turkish relations in the era of globalisation. Dulles: Brassey’s.
     [Google Scholar]
  35. McKeown, S. , & Psaltis, C.
    (2017) Intergroup contact and the mediating role of intergroup trust on outgroup evaluation and future contact intentions in Cyprus and Northern Ireland. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23 (4), 392–404. 10.1037/pac0000275
     https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000275 [Google Scholar]
  36. Muth, S.
    (2015) Language removal, commodification and the negotiation of cultural identity in Nagorno-Karabakh. In R. Rubdy , & S. Ben Said (Eds.), Conflict, exclusion and dissent in the Linguistic Landscape (pp.77–100). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137426284_4
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426284_4 [Google Scholar]
  37. (2014) Linguistic Landscapes on the other side of the border: Signs, language and the construction of cultural identity in Transnistria. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 227, 25–46.
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Papadakis, Y.
    (2005) Echoes from the dead zone: Across the Cyprus divide. London: I.B. Tauris. 10.5040/9780755619726
     https://doi.org/10.5040/9780755619726 [Google Scholar]
  39. Papangelou, R.
    (2001) Dictionary of the Cypriot Dialect. Athens: Iolikos.
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Papen, U.
    (2012) Commercial discourses, gentrification and citizens’ protest: The Linguistic Landscape of Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16 (1), 56–80. 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2011.00518.x
     https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2011.00518.x [Google Scholar]
  41. Pavlenko, A.
    (2010) Linguistic landscape of Kyiv, Ukraine: A diachronic study. In E. Shohamy , B. R. Eliezer , & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic Landscape in the City (pp.133–150). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781847692993‑010
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692993-010 [Google Scholar]
  42. (2009) Language conflict in post-Soviet Linguistic Landscapes. Journal of Slavic Linguistics, 17 (1–2), 247–274. 10.1353/jsl.0.0025
     https://doi.org/10.1353/jsl.0.0025 [Google Scholar]
  43. Pennycook, A. , & Otsuji, E.
    (2015) Metrolingualism: language in the city. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9781315724225
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315724225 [Google Scholar]
  44. Psaltis, C.
    (2016) Collective memory, social representations of intercommunal relations, and conflict transformation in divided Cyprus. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology22, 19–27. 10.1037/pac0000145
     https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000145 [Google Scholar]
  45. Rubdy, R. , & Ben-Said, S.
    (2015) Conflict, exclusion and dissent in the Linguistic Landscape. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 10.1057/9781137426284
     https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137426284 [Google Scholar]
  46. Şahin, S.
    (2014) Diverse media, uniform reports: An analysis of news coverage of the Cyprus problem by the Turkish Cypriot press. Journalism, 15 (4), 446–462. 10.1177/1464884913486399
     https://doi.org/10.1177/1464884913486399 [Google Scholar]
  47. Scollon, R. , & Scollon, S.
    (2003) Discourse in Place: Language in the Material World. London: Routledge. 10.4324/9780203422724
     https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203422724 [Google Scholar]
  48. Shohamy, E. , Ben-Rafael, E. , & Barni, M.
    (2010) Linguistic Landscape in the City. Bristol: Multilingual Matters. 10.21832/9781847692993
     https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692993 [Google Scholar]
  49. Themistocleous, C.
    (2019) Conflict and unification in the multilingual landscape of a divided city: The case of Nicosia’s border. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40 (2), 94–114. 10.1080/01434632.2018.1467425
     https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2018.1467425 [Google Scholar]
  50. (2010) Writing in a non-standard Greek variety: Romanized Cypriot Greek in online chat. Writing Systems Research, 2 (2), 155–168. 10.1093/wsr/wsq008
     https://doi.org/10.1093/wsr/wsq008 [Google Scholar]
  51. Trumper-Hecht, N.
    (2009) Constructing national identity in mixed cities in Israel: Arabic on signs in the public space of Upper Nazareth. In E. Shohamy , & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic Landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp.238–252). London: Routledge.
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Tofallis, K.
    (2016) A history of Cyprus. London: Greek Institute.
     [Google Scholar]
  53. United Nations Cyprus Talks
    United Nations Cyprus Talks (2017) Conference on Cyprus Reconvenes in Crans- Montana. Retrieved on13 January 2020, fromwww.uncyprustalks.org/conference-on-cyprus-reconvenes-in-crans-montana/
     [Google Scholar]
  54. United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus
    United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Cyprus (2018) About the buffer zone. Retrieved on13 January 2020, fromhttps://unficyp.unmissions.org/about-buffer-zone
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Vetter, E.
    (2015) Re-thinking language conflict: Challenges and options. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 235, 103–118.
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Way, L.
    (2011) The local news media impeding solutions to the Cyprus conflict: Competing discourses of nationalism in Turkish Cypriot radio news. Social Semiotics, 21 (1), 15–34. 10.1080/10350330.2011.535668
     https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2011.535668 [Google Scholar]
http://instance.metastore.ingenta.com/content/journals/10.1075/ll.19030.the
Loading
Multilingual voices of unification in ‘No man’s land’
Linguistic Landscape 6, 155 (2020); https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.19030.the
/content/journals/10.1075/ll.19030.the
/content/journals/10.1075/ll.19030.the
Loading

Data & Media loading...

  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): border; buffer zone; community; conflict; Cyprus; ephemeral signs; identity; ideologies; Linguistic Landscape; mobility

Most Cited

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was successful
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error