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    Localising cosmopolitanism in place talk: semiotic landscape as stance object

    Zhao, Fengzhi and Lou, Jackie (2023) Localising cosmopolitanism in place talk: semiotic landscape as stance object. Language in Society , ISSN 0047-4045.

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    Abstract

    Sociolinguistic research has begun to critique the generalised view of cosmopolitanism as indexed by the use of global and non-local languages and urge us to explore its variety and complexity as situated and dialogical practices. This article answers this call by examining how cosmopolitanism is localised in place talk. Drawing from a larger ethnographic study of language, space, and cosmopolitanism in Shanghai, the analysis focuses on how participants evoke, compare, and evaluate the semiotic landscapes of this Chinese megalopolis. While competing notions of cosmopolitanism emerge during the research interviews, stances taken towards them also perform divergent relationships to the city. This article thus demonstrates how, instead of being a binary opposition, cosmopolitan landscape is discursively reappropriated for the construction of local identities. It contributes to our understanding of how cosmopolitanism is reterritorialised in urban space.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Article
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): Cosmopolitanism, semiotic landscape, stance, place talk, place-identity, Shanghai
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Creative Arts, Culture and Communication
    Depositing User: Jackie Lou
    Date Deposited: 12 Dec 2024 13:50
    Last Modified: 12 Dec 2024 13:50
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/54698

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