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Article published In: Language, Culture and Society
Vol. 6:1 (2024) ► pp.105–130

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Sensescapes in multilingual environments

A case study

 | University of Groningen
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Available under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) 4.0 license.

For any use beyond this license, please contact the publisher at rights@benjamins.nl.

Open Access publication of this article was funded through a Transformative Agreement with University of Groningen.

Published online: 13 September 2024
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https://doi.org/10.1075/lcs.23027.pra
Abstract
Sensescapes refer to the complex multimodal and semiotic assemblages that confer meaning to space as experienced by individuals and groups. The study of sensescapes seeks to understand the nature of these assemblages, how they shape meaning, and with them, individual and collective experiences. This article unpacks sensescapes as an expansive lens to meaning in space, underscoring its potential to investigate the nexus between language and culture. To that end, it integrates existing proposals in linguistic landscapes and translanguaging, and connects them to a working definition of sensescapes drawn from various social sciences and humanities fields. To illustrate the study of sensescapes and their relevance to applied linguistics, the article reports on a case study conducted in the Al-Kissaria district of Nador, Morocco through participatory ethnography. The study provides a phenomenological account of the experiences of two multilingual sisters from neighboring Melilla, Spain, as they navigate a market area. The data illustrate how the sisters’ sensory interactions with the environment interplay with their linguistic and broader semiotic repertoires, activating their previous experiences and shaping their conceptualizations and negotiation of language and culture in this space.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Arriving at sensescapes
  • 3.The transdisciplinary origins of sensescapes
    • 3.1Integrating sensoriality and multimodality into linguistic landscapes
    • 3.2Translanguaging beyond multilingualism
  • 4.Case study: Exploring sensescapes in multilingual Al-Kissaria, Nador
    • 4.1The sisters and the data sources
    • 4.2Results and discussion
      • 4.2.1Trans-ing at the breakfast table
      • 4.2.2Visualizing local linguistic repertoires
      • 4.2.3Reading, seeing and smelling bocadillos de calamares: Translanguaging flows
      • 4.2.4Cultural meaning in color
      • 4.2.5Re-territorialization through a participatory approach
      • 4.2.6A deep dive into the sensescape
  • 5.Concluding remarks
  • References
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