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Article published In: Multilingual Landscapes and the Construction of Community
Edited by Leonie Gaiser and Yaron Matras
[Linguistic Landscape 6:2] 2020
► pp. 155–182

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Multilingual voices of unification in ‘No man’s land’

Evidence from the Linguistic Landscape of Nicosia’s UN-controlled buffer zone

 | University of Reading
Published online: 14 July 2020
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.19030.the
Abstract
The island of Cyprus and Nicosia, its capital, have been divided by a UN-controlled buffer zone since the 1974 war. The ease of movement restrictions in 2003 saw Greek-Cypriots and Turkish-Cypriots crossing into each other’s area after 30 years of complete separation and increased mobility, especially through the UN-controlled buffer zone at the Ledras Street crossing-point in Nicosia, interjected a new dynamic in the area. The analysis of photographic data collected over a period of three years from the Linguistic Landscape of the buffer zone reveals that ephemeral signs in Greek, Turkish, and English are used to establish connections and strengthen social ties between the former enemies, and to project ideologies that go against popular nationalist narratives. By adopting new conceptualisations of the term ‘community’ (Blokland, T. (2017). Community as urban practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), this study discusses how a new, imagined community can emerge in conflict-ridden contexts through the display of written public signs in the Linguistic Landscape.
Περίληψη
Η Κύπρος και η πρωτεύουσα της, η Λευκωσία, έχουν διαιρεθεί από μια ελεγχόμενη από τον Ο.Η.Ε. ζώνη ασφαλείας (Πράσινη Γραμμή) λόγω του πολέμου το 1974. Το 2003 η μερική άρση των περιορισμών στην ελεύθερη μετακίνηση επέτρεψε σε Ελληνοκυπρίους και Τουρκοκύπριους να περάσουν ξανά στην ‘άλλη πλευρά’ μετά από 30 χρόνια διαχωρισμού και η αυξημένη κινητικότητα, ιδίως μέσω του σημείου διέλευσης της οδού Λήδρας στο κέντρο της Λευκωσίας, έφερε μια νέα δυναμική στην περιοχή. Η ανάλυση φωτογραφικών δεδομένων τα οποία συλλέχθηκαν κατά τη διάρκεια τριών ετών από το Γλωσσικό Τοπίο της Πράσινης Γραμμής στην οδό Λήδρας αποκαλύπτει ότι εφήμερα σημεία (ephemeral signs) γραμμένα στα Ελληνικά, Τουρκικά και Αγγλικά χρησιμοποιούνται για να δημιουργήσουν σχέσεις και να ενισχύσουν τους κοινωνικούς δεσμούς μεταξύ των δύο ‘πρώην εχθρών’, καθώς επίσης και για να προωθήσουν ιδεολογίες οι οποίες αντιτίθενται σε διαδεδομένες εθνικιστικές τοποθετήσεις. Υιοθετώντας μια νέα έννοια του όρου ‘κοινότητα’ (Blokland, T. (2017). Community as urban practice. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar), η μελέτη αυτή αποκαλύπτει πώς μια καινούρια, φαντασιακή κοινότητα (imagined community) μπορεί να δημιουργηθεί σε συγκρουσιακά περιβάλλοντα μέσω της χρήσης γραπτών δημόσιων επιγραφών στο Γλωσσικό Τοπίο.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Lingustic landscape in post-war and conflict zones
  • 3.Community, language, conflict
  • 4.The Cypriot context
    • 4.1The Greek-Turkish Cypriot conflict
    • 4.2Dominant ideologies in Cyprus and their effect on language use
  • 5.Research methods
  • 6.Data analysis
    • 6.1Promoting rapprochement through joint events
    • 6.2Enhancing shared values and common goals
    • 6.3Expressing counter-narratives
  • 7.Discussion
  • Notes
  • References
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