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Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 11:4 (2025) ► pp.325–354

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Challenges and opportunities

Tourism tensions in the Faroese Linguistic Landscape

ORCiD logo with link | University of Copenhagen
Published online: 27 June 2025
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.24083.nil
Abstract
In the era of mass tourism and increasing interest in the Nordic countries, the Faroe Islands have become recognised as a popular tourist destination. Aside from its economic benefits, tourism has, however, caused new challenges to the Faroe Islands and has been subject to political debate for many years. This article examines how (mass) tourism is manifested in the Linguistic Landscape of five popular tourist locations on the Faroe Islands. The study suggests that tourism is manifested very differently when comparing urban and rural locations, especially regarding the frequency of English signage and the percentage of regulative signs. In rural locations in particular, local residents constituted central actors of the tourism industry, with the agency to both accommodate and challenge tourism, which is illustrative of tourism’s paradoxical nature of being both beneficial and disruptive.
Úrtak
Í einari tíð við hópferðavinnu og vaksandi áhuga fyri Norðurlondum eru Føroyar vorðnar eitt vælumtókt ferðamál. Burtursæð frá búskaparligu ágóðunum, sum ferðavinnan hevur havt við sær, hevur hon tó elvt til nýggjar avbjóðingar fyri Føroyar. Ferðavinnan hevur eisini verið fyri politiskum kjaki í nógv ár. Í hesi grein verður kannað, hvussu (hóp)ferðavinnan kemur til sjóndar í málsliga landslagnum á fimm vælumtóktum ferðafólkastøðum í Føroyum. Kanningin bendir á, at ferðavinnan vísir seg sera ymiskt, tá býir og bygdir verða samanborin. Munurin vísir seg serliga viðvíkjandi títtleikanum av enskum skeltum og prosenttalinum av regulerandi skeltum. Serliga á bygd vóru lokalir íbúgvar miðdeplarnir í ferðavinnuni við førleika til bæði at rúma og skapa avbjóðingar fyri ferðavinnuna. Hetta vísir, at ferðavinna í einum oyggjasamfelag sum tí føroyska kann vera tvørsøgd, tað vil siga samstundis gagnlig og órógvandi.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
  • 3.LL and tourism
    • 3.1Territorial claims and (linguistic) bordering
  • 4.Research design
    • 4.1Defining the unit of analysis
    • 4.2Coding categories
  • 5.Fieldwork and data collection
  • 6.Results of language distribution
    • 6.1Language distribution across locations
    • 6.2Language distribution across domains
    • 6.3Language hierarchies within bilingual signs
    • 6.4Regulative signs across locations and domains
  • 7.Signs of challenging and contesting tourism
  • 8.Commodifying Faroese language and culture
  • 9.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
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