1887
Volume 2, Issue 2
  • ISSN 2214-9953
  • E-ISSN: 2214-9961
USD
Buy:$35.00 + Taxes

Abstract

This study provides an interpretive perspective on the linguistic landscape (LL) of ethnic Persian shops in the city of Sydney, Australia. Photographic data and ethnographic observations demonstrate how linguistic and cultural displays on ethnic Persian shops are organized in different frames which are driven by local symbolic markets. These frames are investigated through an analysis of linguistic and semiotic resources drawn on these ethnic premises. The study also illustrates that the trajectory of the Persian language and its semiotic resources as mediational tools frame the collective identity of the sign producers (social actors) and symbolic and cultural means that are activated in the LL of such ethnic shops. These framing devices promote minority languages, Persian in specific, as valuable resources and commodities in the multicultural context of Sydney, and point to the possible impact of those resources on the local political economy of language. In addition, the findings reinforce the view that patterns of multilingualism are not static and are influenced by a number of factors such as cultural, economic and linguistic resources which individuals and officials use in the public space.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1075/ll.2.2.04iza
2016-09-16
2025-02-08
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

References

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics
    (2011) Retrieved on20 October, 2013, fromwww.abs.gov.au
  2. Backhaus, P
    (2007) Linguistic landscapes: A comparative study of urban multilingualism in Tokyo. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Barni, M. , & Bagna, C
    (2010) Linguistic landscape and language vitality. In E. Shohamy , E. Ben-Rafael , & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city (pp.3–18). New York: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Ben-Rafael, E
    (2009) A sociological approach to the study of linguistic landscapes. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.). New York: Multilingual Matters.Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery,
  5. Ben-Rafael, E. , Shohamy, E. , Hasan Amara, M. , & 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. doi: 10.1080/14790710608668383
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710608668383 [Google Scholar]
  6. Blommaert, J
    (2005) Discourse: A critical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511610295
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511610295 [Google Scholar]
  7. (2013) Ethnography, superdiversity, and linguistic landscapes: Chronicles of complexity. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Blommaert, J. , & Huang, A
    (2010) Semiotic and spatial scope: Towards a materialist semiotics. Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies62.
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Blommaert, J. , & Maly, I
    (2014) Ethnographic linguistic landscape analysis and social change: A case study. Working Papers in Urban Language and Literacies, 133.
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Bourdieu, P
    (1977) Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/CBO9780511812507
    https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511812507 [Google Scholar]
  11. (1985) The social space and the genesis of groups. Theory and Society, 14(6), 723–744. doi: 10.2307/657373
    https://doi.org/10.2307/657373 [Google Scholar]
  12. (1991) Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Candlin, C.N. , & Maley, Y
    (1994) Framing the dispute. International Journal for the Semiotics of Law, 7(1), 75–98. doi: 10.1007/BF01099011
    https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01099011 [Google Scholar]
  14. Collins, J. , & Slembrouck, S
    (2007) Reading shop windows in globalized neighborhoods: Multilingual literacy practices and indexicality. Journal of Literacy Research, 39(3), 335–356. doi: 10.1080/10862960701613128
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10862960701613128 [Google Scholar]
  15. Coupland, N
    (2012) Bilingualism on display: The framing of Welsh and English in Welsh public spaces. Language in Society, 41, 1–27. doi: 10.1017/S0047404511000893
    https://doi.org/10.1017/S0047404511000893 [Google Scholar]
  16. Coupland, N. , & Garret, P
    (2010) Linguistic landscapes, discursive frames and metacultural performance: The case of Welsh Patagonia. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 205, 7–36.
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Ehrkamp, P
    (2005) Placing identities: Transnational practices and local attachments of Turkish immigrants in Germany. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 31(2), 345–364. doi: 10.1080/1369183042000339963
    https://doi.org/10.1080/1369183042000339963 [Google Scholar]
  18. Fairclough, N
    (1995) Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. London: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Goffman, E
    (1959) The presentation of self in everyday life. New York: Doubleday, Anchor Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  20. (1963) Behavior in public spaces: Notes on the social organization of gatherings. New York: The Free Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  21. (1971) Relations in public: Microstudies of the public order. New York: Basic Books.
    [Google Scholar]
  22. (1974) Frame analysis: An essay on the organisation of experience. New York: Harper and Row.
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Gorter, D
    (2006) Introduction: The study of the linguistic landscape as a new approach to multilingualism. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 1–6. doi: 10.1080/14790710608668382
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14790710608668382 [Google Scholar]
  24. Heritage, J
    (1984) Garfinkel and ethnomethodology. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Izadi, D
    (2015) Spatial engagement in Persian shops in Sydney. Multimodal Communication, 4(1), 61–78. doi: 10.1515/mc‑2015‑0005
    https://doi.org/10.1515/mc-2015-0005 [Google Scholar]
  26. Järlehed, J
    (2015) Ideological framing of vernacular type choices in the Galician and Basque semiotic landscape. Social Semiotics, 25(2), 165–199. doi: 10.1080/10350330.2015.1010316
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2015.1010316 [Google Scholar]
  27. Jaworski, A. , & Thurlow, C
    (Eds.) (2010) Semiotic landscapes: Language, image, space. London: Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Jaworski, A. , & Yeung, S
    (2010) Life in the Garden of Eden: The naming and imagery of residential Hong Kong. In E. Shohamy , E. Ben-Rafael , & M. Barni (Eds.), Linguistic landscape in the city (pp. 153–181). Bristol, UK: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Jones, R
    (2010) Cyberspace and physical space Attention structures in computer-mediated communication. In A. Jaworski & C. Thurlow (Eds.), Semiotic landscapes: Language, image, space. London: Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Kallen, Jeffery
    (2008) Tourism and representation in the Irish linguistic landscape. In E. Shohamy & D. Gorter (Eds.), Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery (pp.270–283). London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Kress, G. , & van Leeuwen, T.J
    (2006) Reading images: The grammar of visual design, 2nd ed. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Landry, R. , & Bourhis, R.Y
    (1997) Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality: An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16(1), 23–49. doi: 10.1177/0261927x970161002
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927x970161002 [Google Scholar]
  33. Leeman, J. , & Modan, G
    (2009) Commodified language in Chinatown: A contextualized approach to linguistic landscape. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 13(3), 332–362. doi: 10.1111/j.1467‑9841.2009.00409.x
    https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9841.2009.00409.x [Google Scholar]
  34. Lemke, J
    (2005) Place, pace, and meaning: Multimedia chronotopes. In S. Norris & R. Jones (Eds.), Discourse in action: Introducing mediated discourse analysis (pp.110–122). Oxon, UK: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Lou, J
    (2007) Revitalizing Chinatown into a heterotopia: A geosemiotic analysis of shop signs in Washington, D.C.’s Chinatown. Space and Culture, 10(2), 170–194. doi: 10.1177/1206331206298547
    https://doi.org/10.1177/1206331206298547 [Google Scholar]
  36. Layder, D
    (1993) New strategies in social research. Cambridge: Polity Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Norris, S
    (2004) Analyzing multimodal interaction: A methodological framework. London: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  38. (2007) The micropolitics of personal national and ethnicity identity. Discourse & Society, 18(5), 653–674. doi: 10.1177/0957926507079633
    https://doi.org/10.1177/0957926507079633 [Google Scholar]
  39. (2011) Identity in (inter)action: Introducing multimodal (inter)action analysis. Berlin and New York: De Gruyter Mouton. doi: 10.1515/9781934078280
    https://doi.org/10.1515/9781934078280 [Google Scholar]
  40. Pietikäinen, S. , Lane, P. , Salo, H. , & Laihiala-Kankainen, S
    (2011) Frozen actions in the Arctic linguistic landscape: A nexus analysis of language processes in visual space. International Journal of Multilingualism, 8(4), 277–298. doi: 10.1080/14790718.2011.555553
    https://doi.org/10.1080/14790718.2011.555553 [Google Scholar]
  41. Popovec, J
    (2006) Targeting the ethnic shopper. National Real Estate Investor, 48(5), 26.
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Reh, M
    (2004) Multilingual writing: A reader-oriented typology — with examples from Lira Municipality (Uganda). International Journal of the Sociology of Language2004, 1. doi: 10.1515/ijsl.2004.2004.170.1
    https://doi.org/10.1515/ijsl.2004.2004.170.1 [Google Scholar]
  43. Sarangi, S. , & Candlin, C.N
    (2001) Motivational relevancies: Some methodological reflections on sociolinguistic practice. In N. Coupland , S. Sarangi , & C.N. Candlin (Eds.), Sociolinguistics and social theory (pp. 350–387). Harlow: Longman.
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Scollon, R
    (2001) Mediated discourse: The nexus of practice. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Scollon, R. , & Scollon, S.W
    (2003) Discourses in place: Language in the material world. New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9780203422724
    https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203422724 [Google Scholar]
  46. Silverstein, M
    (1976) Shifters, linguistic categories and cultural descriptions. In K. Basso & H. Selby (Eds.), Meaning in anthropology (pp. 11–55). Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  47. (2003) Indexical order and the dialectics of sociolinguistic life. Language & Communication, 23, 193–229. doi: 10.1016/S0271‑5309(03)00013‑2
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5309(03)00013-2 [Google Scholar]
  48. Shohamy, E
    (2006) Language policy: Hidden agendas and new approaches. New York: Routledge.
    [Google Scholar]
  49. Shohamy, E. , & Gorter, D
    (Eds.) (2009) Linguistic landscape: Expanding the scenery. New York: Multilingual Matters.
    [Google Scholar]
  50. Spolsky, B. , & Cooper, R
    (1991) The languages of Jerusalem. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
    [Google Scholar]
  51. Stroud, C. , & Mpendukana, S
    (2010) Multilingual signage: A multimodal approach to discourses of consumption in a South African township. Social Semiotics, 20(5), 469–493. doi: 10.1080/10350330.2010.513174
    https://doi.org/10.1080/10350330.2010.513174 [Google Scholar]
  52. Tan, P.K.W. , & Rubdy, R
    (Eds.) (2008) Language as commodity: Global structure, local marketplaces. London: Continuum.
    [Google Scholar]
  53. Wang, L. , & Lo, L
    (2007) Immigrant grocery-shopping behavior: Ethnic identity versus accessibility. Environment and Planning A, 39(3), 684–699. doi: 10.1068/a3833
    https://doi.org/10.1068/a3833 [Google Scholar]
  54. Wang, N
    (1999) Rethinking authenticity in tourism experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 26(2), 349–370. doi: 10.1016/S0160‑7383(98)00103‑0
    https://doi.org/10.1016/S0160-7383(98)00103-0 [Google Scholar]
/content/journals/10.1075/ll.2.2.04iza
Loading
  • Article Type: Research Article
Keyword(s): Ethnic shops; framing; linguistic landscape; multilingualism; Persianness
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