The Linguistic Landscape in China Commodification, Image Construction, Contestations and Negotiations

This book explores the linguistic landscape of various cities in China, systematically examining the intricate relationship among language policy, language ideologies, and visible multilingualism in the public space. Framed in the spatial triad encompassing spatial practice, conceived space and lived space, this study conceptualizes linguistic landscape practices, language policy and residents’ perception as three interconnected dimensions of linguistic landscape to unpack the motives, manipulations, contestations and negotiations behind the language display in China, a highly regulated society that attaches great significance to language planning. Taking the linguistic landscape of key cities as cases, this book demonstrates how linguistic landscape mediates city governance and image/identity construction, ontestations and negotiations in language ideologies, and in what ways the agency of linguistic landscape contributes to the harmony of language life in the multilingual society. 

The book is unique in three aspects. First, it is the first book with a keen focus on mapping the linguistic landscape in the Chinese contexts. Second, it uncovers the relationship between linguistic diversity on display and macro issues concerning city image construction, language politics and language ideologies. Third, it provides a lens to look into China’s governance of the public space and instrumentalization of multiple languages in the globalized era.

Yanmei Han is Professor at the School of English Education and a researcher at the Center for Linguistics and Applied Linguistics, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, China. She earned her PhD in linguistics and applied linguistics from Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in 2015. Her research interests include linguistic landscape, language and identity, and multilingualism. She has published recently in International Journal of Multilingualism, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, Journal of Pragmatics, Pragmatics and Society, and Current Issues in Language Planning.

Guowen Shang is Professor in Chinese Studies at the Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bergen, Norway. He earned his PhD in linguistics from the National University of Singapore in 2011. His research interests include language policy and planning, sociolinguistics, and Chinese linguistics. As Principal Investigator, he completed a research project on the linguistic landscape in Eastern China, sponsored by the National Social Science Fund of China. His publications appear in international journals such as Language and Linguistics, Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, International Journal of Multilingualism, English Today, Current Issues in Language Planning, International Journal of Applied Linguistics, Journal of Language and Politics, etc.