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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. 183–212

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Community Ma(r)king in the linguistic landscape of the Ruhr Metropolis

 | University of Duisburg-Essen
 | University of Duisburg-Essen
 | University of Duisburg-Essen
Published online: 14 July 2020
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.19031.zie
Abstract
Central for this paper is the assumption that the Linguistic Landscape is a complex phenomenon that provides an insight not only into practices of symbolic place-making of communities but also into the relation between place, language, and belonging. According to Tietz, U. (2002). Die Grenzen des Wir. Eine Theorie der Gemeinschaft. Frankfurt a. Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar, a community is based on shared norms and attitudes, a collectively binding horizon of values and understanding which also mark the boundaries of a community. Starting from these considerations, we will explore processes of community ma(r)king in the Ruhr Metropolis, Germany, drawing on data collected in the interdisciplinary research project Metropolenzeichen/Signs of the Metropolis (Ziegler, E., Eickmans, H., Schmitz, U., Uslucan, H.-H., Gehne, D., Kurtenbach, S., Mühlan-Meyer, T. & Wachendorff, I. (2018). Metropolenzeichen: Atlas zur visuellen Mehrsprachigkeit der Metropole Ruhr. Duisburg: Universitätsverlag Rhein Ruhr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Our multi-method approach combines data of geocoded digital photographs (N = 25,504) with metalinguistic data collected in on-site interviews (N = 180) and telephone interviews (N = 1,000) to gain a deeper insight into the formation of communities in the Linguistic Landscape of the Ruhr Metropolis.
Abstract (German)
Linguistic Landscapes sind komplexe Phänomene. Sie bieten Einblick in Praktiken der symbolischen Raumkonstitution (place-making) und in die Beziehung zwischen Raum, Sprache und Zugehörigkeit. Nach Tietz (Tietz, U. (2002). Die Grenzen des Wir. Eine Theorie der Gemeinschaft. Frankfurt a. Main: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar: 10) basiert eine Gemeinschaft auf gemeinsamen Normen, Überzeugungen und Einstellungen, d.h. einem „kollektiv verbindlichen und kollektiv verbindenden Wert- und Verständnishorizont“, der auch die Grenzen einer Gemeinschaft markiert. Ausgehend von diesen Überlegungen werden Prozesse der Bildung von Gemeinschaften (community making) sowie ihrer Kennzeichnung (community marking) in der Metropole Ruhr auf der Grundlage der Daten des interdisziplinären Forschungsprojektes Metropolenzeichen: Visuelle Mehrsprachigkeit in der Metropole Ruhr (Ziegler, E., Eickmans, H., Schmitz, U., Uslucan, H.-H., Gehne, D., Kurtenbach, S., Mühlan-Meyer, T. & Wachendorff, I. (2018). Metropolenzeichen: Atlas zur visuellen Mehrsprachigkeit der Metropole Ruhr. Duisburg: Universitätsverlag Rhein Ruhr.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) untersucht. Unser integrativer Mehrmethoden-Ansatz basiert auf verschiedenen Korpora und verbindet geokodierte Bilddaten (N = 25.504) mit metasprachlichen Daten aus Vor-Ort-Interviews (N = 180) und Telefoninterviews (N = 1.000), um einen tieferen Einblick in die Bildung von Gemeinschaften in der Linguistic Landscape der Metropole Ruhr zu erhalten.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Concepts of community
  • 3.Community Signs in the linguistic landscape
    • 3.1Graffiti scene
    • 3.2Monolingualism as a community marker
    • 3.3Multilingualism as a marker of intercultural encounter
  • 4.Discourses on group identities in public space
  • 5.Communities of practice as practices for communities
  • 6.Concluding remarks
  • Notes
  • References
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2024. From winding tower to Eiffel Tower (of the ruhr area): The symbolic economy of industrial signs. Multimodality & Society 4:4 ► pp. 402 ff. DOI logo
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2023. Does the Linguistic Landscape influence happiness?. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 9:1 ► pp. 86 ff. DOI logo

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