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Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 6:3 (2020) ► pp.297–325

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Minority positioning in physical and online spaces

ORCiD logo with link | Stockholm University
Published online: 22 June 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.18031.vuo
Abstract
The study examines how a Sweden Finnish minority language activist group positions themselves by inserting graffiti-like stickers into the Swedish Linguistic Landscape, and how the majority populations in Sweden and Finland react to these revitalisation efforts. Protesting by placing stickers in physical environments is classified as an act of linguistic citizenship (Isin, E. (2009). Citizenship in flux: The figure of the activist citizen. Subjectivity, 291, 367–388. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) and, from the majority’s point of view, these acts are a threat to the shared cultural moral order. The data consists of pictures posted on Instagram that depict actual physical environments where activists have placed stickers that encourage the minority to “speak their own language”. The activists utilise temporal, spatial, textual, and multimodal elements in their discursive construction. As a theoretical framework, I apply Harré, R. & Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of Positioning. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 21, 4, 393–407. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar positioning theory. The results show how minorities position themselves in relation to the Swedish majority population with the aim of justifying their status and their right to exist.
Abstrakti
Tutkimus käsittelee ruotsinsuomalaisten kieliaktivistien pyrkimyksiä vaikuttaa vähemmistön minäkuvaan ryhmän sisäisesti. Samalla he pyrkivät vaikuttamaan asemaansa Ruotsin yhteiskunnassa ja tuovat julki epäkohtia, joita vähemmistö kokee esimerkiksi koulutuskentällä. Aktivistit puolustavat vähemmistönsä yhteiskunnallista asemaa liimaamalla tarroja julkisissa tiloissa Tukholmassa ja muualla Ruotsissa. Aktivistit muokkaavat näin pitkälti yksikielistä kielimaisemaa. Graffitinomainen tarrojen liimaaminen luokitellaan artikkelissa lingvistiseksi kansalaisteoksi (eng. linguistic citizenship; Isin, E. (2009). Citizenship in flux: The figure of the activist citizen. Subjectivity, 291, 367–388. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), joka uhkaa vallitsevaa kielimaisemaa ja yhteiskunnan yhteistä hegemonista järjestystä. Aineisto koostuu Instagramissa julkaistuista kuvista, joissa esiintyy aktivistien julkisiin tiloihin liimaamia tarroja. Tarrat kannustavat vähemmistöä ”puhumaan omaa kieltään”. Aktivistit soveltavat ajallisia, tilallisia, tekstuaalisia ja multimodaalisia elementtejä merkityksellistäessään vähemmistöä diskursiivisesti. Teoreettisena viitekehyksenä sovellan Harrén ja Langehoven (Harré, R. & Van Langenhove, L. (1991). Varieties of Positioning. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 21, 4, 393–407. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) sijoittamisteoriaa (eng. positioning). Tulokset osoittavat, miten vähemmistö sijoittaa itsensä suhteessa ruotsinkieliseen enemmistöön tarkoituksenaan perustella olemassaoloaan.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1The context of the present study
    • 1.2Literature review and research questions
  • 2.Linguistic Landscape as interaction and as a site of activism
    • 2.1Linguistic Landscapes as a site of protest
    • 2.2Positioning
  • 3.Method and data
  • 4.Analysis
    • 4.1Tags and statements
    • 4.2Sticky ideologies
    • 4.2.1Old history
      • 4.2.2Recent history
      • 4.2.3Claiming rights with graffiti
    • 4.3The majorities strike back
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
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