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Article published In:
Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 7:1 (2021) ► pp.86–115

Memories and semiotic resources in place-making

A case study in the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam

ORCID logo | La Trobe University

This paper explores how semiotic resources are used to build individuals’ place-making during a walk around the Old Quarter in Hanoi, Vietnam. Using Lefebvre’s (1991) spatial triad as the perceived, the lived and the conceived, the paper uses a case study of a local participant and myself to consider how our differing perspectives affect place-making. I show how the local resident makes meaning using perceived resources in the here-and-now as backdrops for the lived, presented via his recounting of memories of activity spaces. I then contrast how these memories differ from the researcher’s place-making, where the conceived affects how I perceive the significance of visual resources on signs in the here-and-now. The study shows the value of Lefebvre’s (1991) triad for explaining the conflicting generalisations researchers have made about the nature of what is seen in the linguistic landscape or about the roles played by linguistic landscape in defining place.

Keywords: place-making, local resident, memories, activity spaces
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Place-making in LL research
  • 3.Theoretical framework: The conceptual triad by Lefebvre (1991)
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1The research setting
    • 4.2Research participants
    • 4.3Data collection
    • 4.4Data analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Mapping Khanh’s walk
    • 5.2Talk associated with personal attachment
    • 5.3Talk not associated with personal attachment
  • 6.Discussion & conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 20 January 2021
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.19005.pha
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