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Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 9:2 (2023) ► pp.133–157

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‘Beirut you will rise again’

A critical discourse historiographical analysis of the Beiruti Linguistic Landscape

 | University of NevadaReno
 | Oregon State University
 | Vanderbilt University
 | Saint George University of Beirut
Published online: 7 November 2022
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https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.21040.kar
Abstract
This study examines the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of two streets in Beirut (Foch and Weygand) following a series of protests in October 2019 against the Lebanese government. We analyzed signs of protest on those two streets collected in 2020 and compared them to archival data collected back in 2015 prior to the commencement of the protests. We drew upon an expanding LL literature of contestation and resistance and theoretically framed our study in concepts of reclaiming public spaces through protest signs (Martín Rojo, L. M. (2014a). Occupy: The spatial dynamics of discourse in global protest movements. Journal of Language and Politics, 13(4), 583–598. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Photographic data was collected and analyzed based on a critical discourse historiographical approach ( (2017). Understanding the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement: A critical discourse historiographical approach. Discourse & Society, 28(5), 453–472. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). Implications with regard to Beirut’s changing identity and conflicting discourses of protest, hope, and censorship competing for space on its streets are presented. The study also presents asynchronous narrative layering as an approach that addresses historical and cultural dimensions and power structures that underlie the narratives that shape protest movements.
الملخص
تبحث هذه الدراسة في المشهد اللغوي لشارعين في بيروت (فوش وويغان) بعد سلسلة من الاحتجاجات التي انفجرت في تشرين الأول / أكتوبر 2019 ضد الحكومة اللبنانية. فقمنا بتحليل لافتات الاحتجاجات التي جمعناها من هذين الشارعين في العام 2020 وقارناها بالبيانات الأرشيفية التي جمعناها في العام 2015 قبل بدء الاحتجاجات. كما استندنا إلى أبحاث موسعة حول المشهد اللغوي، وقمنا بتأطير دراستنا نظريًا في مفاهيم استعادة الأماكن العامة من خلال لافتات الاحتجاجات (Martín Rojo, L. M. (2014a). Occupy: The spatial dynamics of discourse in global protest movements. Journal of Language and Politics, 13(4), 583–598. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar). إضافة إلى ذلك، جمعنا البيانات الفوتوغرافية وحلّلناها بناءً على نهج تأريخي للخطاب النقدي ( (2017). Understanding the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement: A critical discourse historiographical approach. Discourse & Society, 28(5), 453–472. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) وعرضنا التداعيات على الهوية المتغيرة لبيروت وخطابات الاحتجاج والأمل والرقابة التي تتنافس على مساحة في شوارعها. وتقدم أيضًا الدراسة الطبقات السردية غير المتزامنة كنهج يعالج الأبعاد التاريخية والثقافية وهياكل القوة الكامنة وراء السرديات التي تشكل الحركات الاحتجاجية.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Beiruti context
  • 3.Linguistic Landscapes of protest and resistance
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Research design
    • 4.2Data collection and analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Between 2015 and 2020: Protest signs reclaiming the Beiruti LL
    • 5.2Processes of reappropriation
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
References (35)
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Macalister, John
2024. Language policy and national identity evolution in a new nation. Linguistic Landscape. An international journal 10:2 ► pp. 111 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2025. Multilingualism and Linguistic Landscapes of Protest and Conflict. In The Handbook of Linguistic Landscapes and Multilingualism, ► pp. 127 ff. DOI logo

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