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Protest Linguistic Landscapes of concrete utopia

Asserting the ‘right to the square’ in Exarchia

ORCiD logo with link | University of Thessaly
ORCiD logo with link | University of Thessaly
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Abstract
Adopting an ethnographic approach to the Linguistic Landscape (LL), the current paper sheds light on the imagination and prefigurations (Graeber, David (2013). The democracy project: A history, a crisis, a movement. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) of a utopic future enacted in the protest LL of Exarchia Square in Athens city centre. More specifically, within a context of police suppression, protest LLs have been performed to save the only square of Exarchia neighbourhood against the plans to construct a metro station on the square, construed as part of the ongoing gentrification and touristification of the neighbourhood. Aiming to explore how the right to the city ( (2012). Rebel cities: From the right to the city to the urban revolution. London: Verso Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) is asserted in this dystopic setting, we draw on the understanding of the protest LL as a contested process that rearticulates public space. Analyzing an assemblage of commoning practices, semiotic resources, embodied performances and the soundscape, the protest LL reveals how the square is envisioned and transformed by the protesters to a concrete utopia (Bloch, Ernst (1986). The principle of hope (N. Plaice, S. Plaice & P. Knight, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar).
Περίληψη
Η παρούσα εθνογραφικά προσανατολισμένη μελέτη διερευνά το όραμα και τις προεικονίσεις (Graeber, David (2013). The democracy project: A history, a crisis, a movement. London: Penguin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) ενός ουτοπικού μέλλοντος, όπως αυτά επιτελούνται στο αγωνιστικό γλωσσικό τοπίο της Πλατείας Εξαρχείων, στο κέντρο της Αθήνας. Συγκεκριμένα, μέσα σε ένα πλαίσιο αστυνομικής καταστολής, το αγωνιστικό γλωσσικό τοπίο διεκδικεί τη διάσωση της μοναδικής πλατείας της γειτονιάς ενάντια στην κατασκευή σταθμού μετρό, η οποία νοηματοδοτείται ως μέρος του ευρύτερου εξευγενισμού και της τουριστικοποίησης της περιοχής. Με στόχο τη διερεύνηση των τρόπων με τους οποίους διεκδικείται και πραγματώνεται το δικαίωμα στην πόλη ( (2012). Rebel cities: From the right to the city to the urban revolution. London: Verso Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) σε αυτό το δυστοπικό παρόν, το αγωνιστικό γλωσσικό τοπίο εξετάζεται ως δυναμική διαδικασία αντιπαράθεσης που ανανοηματοδοτεί και ανακατασκευάζει τον δημόσιο χώρο. Μέσα από την ανάλυση της συναρμογής πρακτικών των κοινών, σημειωτικών πόρων, ενσώματων επιτελέσεων και ηχοτοπίων, αναδεικνύεται ότι το αγωνιστικό γλωσσικό τοπίο, αρθρώνοντας το όραμα ενός εναλλακτικού μέλλοντος για την πλατεία, τη μετασχηματίζει σε μια απτή, συγκεκριμένη (concrete) ουτοπία (Bloch, Ernst (1986). The principle of hope (N. Plaice, S. Plaice & P. Knight, Trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar).
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Theoretical framework
  • 3.Methodological approach
  • 4.Unravelling the dystopic present of Exarchia Square
  • 5.The right to the square: Imagining and prefiguring utopia in protest LLs
    • 5.1Disrupting dystopia through being-here
    • 5.2Enacting utopia through an alternative sociospatial present
    • 5.3Articulating the vision of a utopic future
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion: The making of a concrete utopia through performing the right to the square
  • Notes
  • Author queries
  • References
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