Linguistic Landscapes: Using Signs and Symbols to Translate Cities
VENICE INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY
Hi! Emily Cooper (UG, Exeter; MA in Translation Studies, Exeter) and Ignes Bordwell Silva Caravieri (UG, Exeter; MA in Translation Studies, Exeter) here to talk to you about receiving a LCVS bursary to attend the prestigious VIU’s summer school on Linguistic Landscapes in June 2024.
This course focuses on the growing interdisciplinary field of Linguistic Landscapes (LL), which traditionally analyses “language of public road signs, advertising billboards, street names, place names, commercial shop signs, and public signs on government buildings”, as they usually occur in urban spaces.
Here is our feedback on the summer school:
Emily
What was so special about this school?
The VIU summer school, ‘Linguistic Landscapes: Using Signs and Symbols to Translate Cities’, provided me with an invaluable opportunity to explore the intersemiotic nature of the notion of linguistic landscape (LL) within the Italian context.
The combination of in-class lectures, theoretical readings and practical activities equipped me with a comprehensive understanding of how elements of Italian culture shape, and are shaped by, the LL.
Was the school relevant to your academic career?
Yes, it was. The school was extremely important in supporting my own studies, since at the time of the school I was due to begin writing my MA Translation Studies dissertation, entitled: ‘A Sign of the Times: Reading Italian Neorealist Films Through the Lenses of Translation and Linguistic Landscape Studies’.
What did you like about this school?
I really liked the wide variety of lectures given by specialists in translation, architecture, history and technology which demonstrated the dynamic, multifarious nature of LL studies. I also loved working with students from different countries and disciplines, which introduced me to a variety of perspectives surrounding the field.
Was the school relevant to your academic career?
Yes, it was. The school was extremely important in supporting my own studies, since at the time of the school I was due to begin writing my MA Translation Studies dissertation, entitled: ‘A Sign of the Times: Reading Italian Neorealist Films Through the Lenses of Translation and Linguistic Landscape Studies’.
What did you like about this school?
I really liked the wide variety of lectures given by specialists in translation, architecture, history and technology which demonstrated the dynamic, multifarious nature of LL studies. I also loved working with students from different countries and disciplines, which introduced me to a variety of perspectives surrounding the field.
What was memorable?
A memorable part of the experience was collaborating with international students to produce a group project investigating the use of multilingual signage around the Frari district of Venice. It was interesting to witness how Venice’s LL reflects the city’s sociolinguistic context, and how the languages/dialects used in signage can exclude certain individuals from the city’s discourse.
In fact, it appeared that the refusal to translate information from Venetian dialect or standard Italian represented a form of resistance against the influxes of tourism, exhibiting how the LL can be used to reinforce power dynamics.
Did you speak Italian in Venice? Was it good?
Yes, I did! As a student of Italian, the experience underlined how my knowledge of the language enables me to uncover deeper layers of meaning in signage, particularly through the interplay of words, images, and symbols to convey meaning. I will never forget my time studying at VIU, and I firmly believe that everything I learned played a pivotal role in the success of my MA dissertation.
Ignes
What was so special about this school?
I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to participate in the VIU Linguistic Landscapes summer school. There is, of course, the obvious: Venice is a beautiful, unique city, and a joy to be in. The history, the food, the views – an undeniable part of summer school’s allure is going on holiday!
Was the school relevant to your academic career?
Yes! This was first and foremost an academic opportunity. It was an opportunity to make connections with academics and fellow students who share similar passions, and to understand their different points of view and research interests. The summer school’s focus (the titular Linguistic Landscapes) is an incredibly interesting multidisciplinary field. Its combined focus of both the linguistic and the visual allowed for a perfect conjunction of my primary interests: visual culture and analysis, which I studied in my bachelor’s in art history, and language, which I would go on to study further in my master’s in translation. This was a unique opportunity to combine my academic interests, and be introduced to a new, exciting field of study in the process.
What did you like about this school?
The week of lectures and “touristing” culminated in a group project which gave us the chance to try our hand at Linguistic Landscapes fieldwork. Set loose in different areas of Venice, each group was free to tackle whichever subject we chose. Undertaking this while in Venice was a particularly exciting dynamic. The lens of Linguistic Landscapes allowed us to travel the city with a completely different mindset than one would normally do, visual-linguistic researchers instead of residents or visitors. One of the biggest tourist destinations in the world, and a city with a completely unique urban profile, Venice’s peculiarities make its study all the more fascinating.
What was your project about?
My group undertook a project to analyse the linguistic landscape of the messages often found on metal surfaces throughout the city: on stickers or sheets of paper taped to items such as electrical boxes, ATMs, and pipes.
From this analysis of the linguistic landscape at a micro-level, we were able to see the reflection of this global city’s wider social dynamics. A brief example: the messages displayed by stickers in thoroughfares were often written in English and addressing global political concerns, while on residential streets, workers and migrants offered their services in Italian, reaching out to the dwindling Venetian resident community. This linguistic landscape divide reflects Venice’s positioning – a touristic, internationalised city that turns evermore touristic and international, permanent residents constantly encouraged to sell their homes (which are later often turned into airbnbs). Flyers flow out of overstuffed mailboxes by the dozens, real estate agencies pleading to buy or rent Venetians’ homes. At no point, however, was our analysis straightforward. Even when restraining ourselves to only one medium, linguistic landscapes continuously proved themselves multilayered and complex, often reflecting the discordant views and attitudes one finds in any city. Instead of attempting to impose on them a master narrative, it might be more accurate to say that through its linguistic landscape we detected many competing narratives of the city.
What was memorable?
It was an unforgettable occasion, and a prime opportunity to hone one’s research, critical thinking, groupwork, and presentation skills. Spending a holiday in Venice wasn’t too shabby either.
