Linguistic Landscape - Volume 12, Issue 1, 2026

Abstract

This article looks at the (in)visibility of solidarity struggles and refuge in the Italian/French Western Alps borderland through the study of Linguistic Landscapes in this space of transit. Drawing from critical migration studies and in particular critical border studies, it focuses on two terms/concepts, ‘solidarity’ and ‘refuge’, which have come under scrutiny in recent years in Europe following the so-called ‘migrant crisis’ of 2015 and the more recent criminalisation of solidarity (De Genova & Tazzioli, 2022). Under the lens are graffiti in the public landscape and signs and drawings in the private Linguistic Landscapes of refuges providing solidarity for people in transit.

Abstract

While early Linguistic Landscape research concerns the semantic analysis of signs, contemporary studies investigate also the human visual attention of the LL. Three prior studies (Seifi, 2015; Vingron et al., 2017; Wei & Qin, 2023) investigate how language users look at the LL in a laboratory setting. However, research on bilinguals’ visual attention towards naturally occurring street signs remains limited. This study addresses this gap using a mobile eye-tracker to examine how bilinguals look at public signs, comparing Polish native speakers with English as L2 (N = 29) and non-Polish bilinguals with English as L2 (N = 11). Results reveal that both Polish and non-Polish participants gazed longer on Polish than English texts on bilingual signs and that Polish and non-Polish participants differed in their preferences to types of signs they looked at in the LL.

Abstract

This study considers the outdoor signage on Spanish restaurants in Berlin, focusing on the actual names of the establishments. The aim involves identifying possible patterns in terms of the projection of a supposedly Spanish image and the role of the Spanish language as a strategy for reflecting the establishment’s perceived authenticity. It begins with an analysis of the names of the restaurants according to the languages on the sign, combination of languages, and visual salience, symbolic function, and referential purpose. The results are then aligned with the diverse strategies for imbuing the signs with an exotic nature, followed by an analysis of the images and other features that may reinforce the names’ symbolic function, with the contribution thereof helping to project stereotypical image of the cultural community in which they are ascribed.

Abstract

This paper responds to the call for more Linguistic Landscape research that engages with prefigurative politics. Using Maginhawa Community Pantry (MCP) as a case study, the paper explores how this social movement emerges as a semiotic landscape of radical care in a time of crisis. The analysis is twofold. First, I examine the pantry’s material objects, linguistic signs, and spatial arrangements to make visible the semiotic enactments of care. Second, I argue that these acts of care are neither moral sentiments nor romantic dispositions but radical responses to the pandemic. This radical care, I propose, defines and characterizes the prefigurative politics of MCP. Overall, the study de-romanticizes the affect of care, revealing its political dimension and its capacity to carve out an alternative social arrangement amid precarious times.

This article reviews Multispecies Discourse Analysis: The Nexus of Discourse and Practice in Sea Turtle Tourism and Conservation9781350229617£85.50

This article reviews The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism978-1-394-23178-2€ 166.10