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Article published In:
Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 9:2 (2023) ► pp.133–157

‘Beirut you will rise again’

A critical discourse historiographical analysis of the Beiruti Linguistic Landscape

| University of Nevada
| Oregon State University
| Vanderbilt University
| Saint George University of Beirut
This study examines the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of two streets in Beirut (Foch and Weygand) following a series of protests in October 2019 against the Lebanese government. We analyzed signs of protest on those two streets collected in 2020 and compared them to archival data collected back in 2015 prior to the commencement of the protests. We drew upon an expanding LL literature of contestation and resistance and theoretically framed our study in concepts of reclaiming public spaces through protest signs (Martín Rojo, 2014a). Photographic data was collected and analyzed based on a critical discourse historiographical approach (Flowerdew, 2017). Implications with regard to Beirut’s changing identity and conflicting discourses of protest, hope, and censorship competing for space on its streets are presented. The study also presents asynchronous narrative layering as an approach that addresses historical and cultural dimensions and power structures that underlie the narratives that shape protest movements.
Keywords: Linguistic Landscape, critical discourse historiography, protest, resistance, Beirut, diachronic approach, asynchronous narrative layering
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Beiruti context
  • 3.Linguistic Landscapes of protest and resistance
  • 4.Methodology
    • 4.1Research design
    • 4.2Data collection and analysis
  • 5.Findings
    • 5.1Between 2015 and 2020: Protest signs reclaiming the Beiruti LL
    • 5.2Processes of reappropriation
  • 6.Discussion
  • 7.Conclusion
  • References
Published online: 7 November 2022
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.21040.kar
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