Linguistic Landscapes in the Stockholm Archipelago—Producing and Reflecting a Sense of Place

Abstract

This article takes a look at the linguistic landscapes of the Stockholm archipelago with the aim to discuss if, and how, a specific sense of place is produced or reflected in the signs, building on Lefebvre’s concept of social spaces. Signs collected from two islands, Nämdö and Svartsö, are used in qualitative analysis. Firstly, the construction of such a (rural) linguistic landscape is discussed, focusing on the languages used as well as the emplacement and general functions of signs. Secondly, a closer look at some examples from the linguistic landscape provides insight into signs that are speaking to locals and visitors. The analysis shows that the linguistic landscape is almost exclusively made up of signs in Swedish. Functionally, a variety of different signs can be found, partly centred by local businesses, and on bulletin boards, but many signs with general information and instructions can also be found throughout the landscape. Examples of signs addressing both permanent residents and visitors can be identified, but the general sense of place the linguistic landscapes reflect is that of more organic places, not overly produced or touristic ones.

A Panorama of Linguistic Landscape Studies

“…Laitinen emphasizes that in order to comprehend the spread of English, researchers have to go beyond the obvious functions of international orientation and modernity, and look into the specific localhistorical context where the signs are located or produced. Comparing his data with Laitinen in Finland, Syrjälä (2022) found an unexpected limited visibility of English in the rural landscapes of two villages in the islands of the Stockholm archipelago.…”