Outdoor signage as a trait in the linguistic landscape duringOperation Protective Edge

Abstract

Researchers have discussed the display of emotions in modern society as a response to stimuli — some of which are internal and private events whereas others are displayed to the outside world (Tourinho, Borba, Vichi, & Leite, 2011). In particular, during times of crisis there seems to be an awakening of patriotic feelings and a tendency to express emotions through symbolic artifacts (Bar-Tal & Ben-Amos, 2004; First & Avraham, 2010; Zeevi, 2009). This article describes and analyzes Israel’s linguistic landscape as reflected by outdoor signs during the military operation Protective Edge (in Hebrew “Tzuk Eitan”) as a display of citizens’ feelings. One-hundred different outdoor signs were selected from a 300 convenience sample and analyzed according to categories of the initiators of the signs, the objects of the messages, and the ways in which solidarity and patriotism were expressed. The findings indicate that indeed, a strong message of patriotism and solidarity emerged from visual and linguistic elements in the signs, as well as their location. The findings show that the LL ceases to be “a space” and becomes a place that conveys a message and contains a social meaning (Shohamy & Waksman 2009).

Solidarity and support in Belgian residential linguistic landscapes during the Covid-19 outbreak

“…Similar to previous studies on the re-functionalising appropriation of the public space in a times of crisis (Zeevi and Dubiner 2016;Kailuweit and Quitana 2020), such displays turn private hardships into a public one and construct an experience shared by the community as a whole. However, in the case of the Covid-19 signs discussed in this article, the reactions to the distressing events did not take the form of signs expressing mourning or protest, but instead carried affective messages of support, encouragement, gratitude and solidarity.…”

“…What publicly displayed signs share is thus essentially a message, a piece of information or meaning that is communicated in the public space. Interestingly, in times of crisis in our modern society, people experience the need to externalise private states or emotional responses (Tourinho et al 2011;Zeevi and Dubiner 2016), and resort to the public space to express these emotions through symbolic artefacts (Zeevi 2009;Zeevi and Dubiner 2016;Kailuweit and Quintana 2020). During the military operation Protective Edge in Israel, for example, outdoor signs emerged as a display of citizens' feelings about the operation (Zeevi and Dubiner 2016).…”

“…Interestingly, in times of crisis in our modern society, people experience the need to externalise private states or emotional responses (Tourinho et al 2011;Zeevi and Dubiner 2016), and resort to the public space to express these emotions through symbolic artefacts (Zeevi 2009;Zeevi and Dubiner 2016;Kailuweit and Quintana 2020). During the military operation Protective Edge in Israel, for example, outdoor signs emerged as a display of citizens' feelings about the operation (Zeevi and Dubiner 2016). Similarly, during the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Madrid in 2004 and Paris in 2015, public mourning emerged in the shape of grassroots memorials covered in signs (Kailuweit and Quintana 2020).…”

(T)Apping the linguistic landscape

“…In order to understand the complexities of the LL, the perspectives of signproducers and the perceptions of sign-receivers must be taken into account (Malinowski 2009(Malinowski , 2015Blommaert 2012;Lou 2016). There has been an increasing involvement of sign-writers and readers in LL research through interviews (Vandenbroucke 2015;Zeevi & Dubiner 2016;Blackwood 2015), questionnaires (Barni & Bagna 2010;Cenoz & Gorter 2006), and participant observation (Malinowksi 2009). Stroud & Jegels (2013: 1) use "narrated walking" to explore how informants "actively construct the significance of local place as they navigate and move through space" (cf.…”