Article published In:
Journal of Language and Politics: Online-First Articles

Linguistic landscapes of activism

The fight for a quality public healthcare in Madrid

ORCID logo | University of Sussex

The field of the linguistic landscape has been examined as an arena of negotiation, struggle, and contestation, where individuals and communities play roles in the symbolic construction of the public sphere. Transitory linguistic landscapes show the power struggle between different communities or how individuals claim their rights in the public sphere. Specifically, political demonstrations can influence public opinion and change policies and law. The mass protest analyzed in the present study aimed to inform public opinion about a public healthcare problem and to push the regional government to take action to resolve the issue. Following the frameworks of geosemiotics, interpellation, and dialogism, the focus of the present study is to examine qualitatively how the political and social action of a mass demonstration is mediated and created through multimodal resources.

Keywords: linguistic landscape, activism, resistance, public healthcare, urban space
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical background: LL of activism
    • 2.1Previous studies
  • 3.Social context: The mobilization of health professionals in Madrid
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Data collection
    • 4.2Analysis
  • 5.Results and discussion
    • 5.1Madrid as a venue for political action: Geosemiotics and space construction
    • 5.2Madrid as a venue for interpellation
    • 5.3Madrid as a venue for dialogism
  • 6.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 1 February 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jlp.23040.ari
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