Linguistic Landscapes in the Stockholm Archipelago—Producing and Reflecting a Sense of Place

This article takes a look at the linguistic landscapes of the Stockholm archipelago with the aim to discuss if, and how, a specific sense of place is produced or reflected in the signs, building on Lefebvre’s concept of social spaces. Signs collected from two islands, Nämdö and Svartsö, are used in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inLanguages (Basel) Vol. 7; no. 1; p. 37
Main Author Syrjälä, Väinö
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2022
Subjects
Annat forskningsområde
authenticity
Islands
Language
Lefebvre, Henri (1901-1991)
Linguistic landscape
Linguistics
Local businesses
Other research area
Qualitative research
Semiotics
sense of place
social space
Society
Swedish language
Tourism
Sweden
Baltic Sea
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Summary:This article takes a look at the linguistic landscapes of the Stockholm archipelago with the aim to discuss if, and how, a specific sense of place is produced or reflected in the signs, building on Lefebvre’s concept of social spaces. Signs collected from two islands, Nämdö and Svartsö, are used in qualitative analysis. Firstly, the construction of such a (rural) linguistic landscape is discussed, focusing on the languages used as well as the emplacement and general functions of signs. Secondly, a closer look at some examples from the linguistic landscape provides insight into signs that are speaking to locals and visitors. The analysis shows that the linguistic landscape is almost exclusively made up of signs in Swedish. Functionally, a variety of different signs can be found, partly centred by local businesses, and on bulletin boards, but many signs with general information and instructions can also be found throughout the landscape. Examples of signs addressing both permanent residents and visitors can be identified, but the general sense of place the linguistic landscapes reflect is that of more organic places, not overly produced or touristic ones.
ISSN:2226-471X
2226-471X
DOI:10.3390/languages7010037