Linguistic Landscapes on Postcards: Tourist Mediation and the Sociolinguistic Communities of Contact

Authors

  • Adam Jaworski Cardiff University Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v4i3.569

Keywords:

Postcards, Writing, Text–image Relation, Tourism, Globalisation, Communities of Contact

Abstract

Alongside ‘iconic’ sights such as buildings, monuments, artworks, modes of transport, and so on, linguistic landscape is a prime semiotic resources for the tourist consumption of place. Apart from their referential function (naming or indexing places, buildings, institutions, products, etc.), written signs work as symbolic resources to create a ‘sense of place’ and as performative displays of identity for their producers and consumers. This paper examines the representation and production of linguistic landscapes on the seemingly banal yet one of the most ubiquitous and powerful of tourist genres – the postcard. I consider six types of interpretive frames for understanding the presence (or absence) of language as part of the postcard image: absence of text; caption; greeting; spectacle; language learning and teaching; tourist script. I conclude with some observations on the sociolinguistic reflexes of mediated tourist-host contact under globalisation.

Author Biography

  • Adam Jaworski, Cardiff University
    Professor of Language and Communication, Centre for Language and Communication Research, Cardiff University.

Published

2012-03-15

How to Cite

Jaworski, A. (2012). Linguistic Landscapes on Postcards: Tourist Mediation and the Sociolinguistic Communities of Contact. Sociolinguistic Studies, 4(3), 569-594. https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.v4i3.569

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