A Study On The Linguistic Landscape Of Tanhualin Historical And Cultural Block From The Perspective Of Placeness

Historical and cultural blocks are steeped in the history and culture of a city,nurturing its unique placeness that differentiates it from other cities.Given the current phenomenon of cities with homogeneous appearances,it is of great significance to conserve and reconstruct the placeness of historical and cultural blocks.As language has the power to create and sustain placeness,empirical research on the linguistic landscape of historical and cultural blocks may provide some implications for their construction.Domestic studies on the linguistic landscape of historical and cultural blocks mainly investigate the signs in the real space and focus on the description of the linguistic representations,with little attention paid to the virtual linguistic landscape or the relationship between linguistic landscape,space,and place.Therefore,this thesis takes the linguistic landscape of Tanhualin Historical and Cultural Block as the research object.The physical linguistic landscape samples are collected by taking photos of every visible sign in the research area while the virtual linguistic landscape samples,including construction plans of Tanhualin,language policies,and tourists’ online comments,are collected through network query,which are further categorized and quantified.Combining Lefebvre’s spatial triad with Agnew’s place theory,this thesis adopts both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the discursive practice as well as relations of the linguistic landscape of Tanhualin in the physical,conceived,and lived spaces,and to analyze its discursive construction of Tanhualin’s placeness in terms of three dimensions: location,locale,and sense of place.It is found that the characteristics and relations of Tanhualin’s linguistic landscape in the three spaces are as follows: in the physical space,Chinese is the dominant and most preferred language due to its highest status ensured by the government while English is the most preferred foreign language due to its prevalence as an international lingua franca;as for the use of font,nearly half of the signs contain calligraphic elements(using calligraphy or digital calligraphy fonts),making use of the aesthetic,decorative,and symbolic functions of calligraphy to create a sense of history and artistry;additionally,signs employing simplified Chinese characters occupy an overwhelming proportion,and those adopting traditional Chinese take advantage of its cultural attribute to appeal to passers-by.In the conceived space,urban construction plans lead to the language diversity in Tanhualin;relevant language policies result in the preferred use of simplified Chinese characters.In addition,the acts of employing foreign languages solely or prominently and misusing traditional Chinese characters violate relevant regulations and mainly occur in bottom-up signs for commercial purposes,which is indicative of the commodification of the symbolic values of foreign languages and traditional Chinese characters.In the lived space,after analyzing tourists’ comments on the websites,their perception of Tanhualin can be summarized as an old street with a sense of history and culture,and at the same time an Internet-famous site suitable for the artistic youth with an artistic,fresh,petty bourgeoisie,and commercial atmosphere,which is in accordance with the image portrayed by the local government.Overall,the linguistic landscape of these three spaces is interconnected: the virtual linguistic landscape of the conceived space shapes the linguistic landscape in the physical space,and the latter sometimes violates the stipulations in the former for self-expression or commercial purposes;the shaped linguistic landscape in the physical space influences the perception of tourists in the lived space;and the virtual linguistic landscape of the lived space evaluates the physical space,and strengthens the image of Tanhualin projected in the conceived space.With regard to the discursive construction of Tanhualin’s placeness,in the first place,linguistic landscape contributes to the construction of location by indexing the absolute location of/in Tanhualin.Secondly,the intentional use of foreign languages constructs an international,commercial,and foreign tourists-friendly locale for traveling;the dominant use of Chinese and fonts like Heiti and Songti in top-down signs constructs a living locale that is targeted at local citizens and is under the management of a modern,cultivated and trusting local government.Thirdly,the employment of calligraphic elements,traditional Chinese characters,and handwritten advertising boards contributes to the sense of history,culture,and artistry.In general,this study provides an overview of the language ecology of Tanhualin,reveals the important role of linguistic landscape resources,especially calligraphy landscape,in the construction of its placeness,and points out some deficiencies in the implementation of urban planning and language policies.The findings of this research can provide some implications for the construction and improvement of historical and cultural blocks,which may further contribute to the inheritance of history and culture,the cultivation of urban soft power,and the economic growth of tourist destinations.