Animac '21
Animac'21
1. Introduction
The token that we have chosen to analyse it that of a publicity banner for the 25th anniversary of the animation festival Animac. The festival consists of the premier or showing of animated short or feature films that are up for awards in the up and comming film award season, as well as holding conferences and activities relating to different topics revolvin film. Most importanly it is held in La Llotja in LLeida.
In our LL we can see the use of multiple languages, i.e. English (seen in the "25 years") and Catalan (seen in the "Mostra International de Cinema d'Animació de Catalunya"), which makes it a multilingual token. The sign was found at the border of two major neighbourhoods in Lleida, Centre Històric and Instituts. Specifically, it is was found on the Avinguda de Catalunya, on a lamppost, however it can be found hung all around the city.
The activity domain of the Linguistic Landscape is tourism and culture, as it is promoting a festival that is culture based. It is aimed at an wide range of ages, thanks to its variety of films and speakers from around the world.
The festival is organised and promoted by the local council, La Paeria, makning the type of sign it a clear example of infrastructural or informational text, according to Mooney and Evans' categorisation of LLs (2015). In addition to being a top-down production, as it is a banner produced by a public institution that followes the linguistic policies regarding the use and proprity of languages in a public space. I.e. propitising the use of Catalan over that of English, hence the it being less used. Furthermore, we can see that there is the use of only one alphabet, the roman alphabet, taking a monoglosic form.
2. Contextualisation
The address of the LL is Avinguda de Catalunya. Due to the location of the token being at the border of two different neighbourhoods, providing a unified picture of the context is more complex. In other words, it is situated in a multifaceted area of the town, in which moving from one street to the next changes the demographic and socioeconomic background. Therefore, we consider necessary to include the data comprised in both neighbourhoods.
Centre Històric
Figure 3: Table of demographic data of the Centre Històric Neighbourhood
The LL address is Avinguda de Catalunya. Due to the token's location being at the border of two different neighbourhoods, providing a unified picture of the context is more complex. In other words, it is located in a multifaceted area of the town, in which moving from one street to the next presents opposed realities. Therefore, we consider it necessary to mention such demographic and socioeconomic diversity. Regarding Avinguda de Catalunya, gives access to the heart of the city as well as the main street, known for being the commercial axis of Lleida. Furthermore, near the LL we find the Bus station, communicating the city to the rest of the province and country.
According to the 2019 census provided by the council of Lleida, and as can be observed in the previous chart, the neighbourhood in which the LL takes place has 4604 migrants registered. Thus, the area known as Centre Històric has the highest migrant population rate of the city, receiving temporary workers from different origins across the rest of the State, especially during the summer. The statistics indicate that Moroccans are the largest migrant group living in the area, followed by Romanians, Senegalese and Algerian. The Centre Històric conveys different realities, being the neuralgic economic center of the city while comprising impoverished migrant population.
Migrant population of the area classified according their nationality:
3. Methodology
In order to, develope the analysis of the token, we were asked to do a series of outings to the area of the LL, striving to better understand its context. Thus, we conducted a series of three visits. The first, taking place the 18th of March at roughly hlf past seven in the afternoon. During the time spent there we took notes of the surrounding linguistic information we could see, as well as listening out for the diverse languages spoken by the people passing by. The second visit, took place on the 23rd of March at around half past twelve, mid day. In contrast with the first visit, we encountered a different demographic of people, specifically, elderly women and workers - possibly on their lunch break - passing by with much more frequency.
Catalan has the status of co-official language in Catalonia. Moreover, the linguistic policies of Catalonia aim to protect and promote Catalan, being in a situation of disadvantage in comparison to Spanish. Therefore, and according to the law 1/1998, of January 7, on Language Policy, Catalan must be present in the labelling of public and private initiatives. In relation with the token, the Article 35.1 stablishes that” in the institutional advertising of the Generalitat and local Administrations, of their public companies or comissioned and of the other Catalan institutions and corporations of public law carried out in the territorial area of Catalonia, Catalan should be used in a general way”. The promotion of Catalan is also mentioned in the article 35.2, as the Catalan government and its administration (including the local entities) has the responsibility of “favor, stimulate and encourage the use of Catalan in advertising, especially in public areas, with the aim of making it the language of normal use in the sector.” Accordingly, the chosen LL, -which is promoted by the city council- includes Catalan as a secondary language present in the token.The banner is found, as aforementioned, at the border of two major neighbourhoods in Lleida. When looking at the surrounding LLs, we found that Catalan is included as a primary language in the majority of them, while English is present in a secundary role. For instance, the most immediate LL - which is that of the Cafè sign - incorporates both Catalan and English, however, see that English is in the "background" ("FOOD AND ...") in comparison to Catalan ("Cafè") due to the size of the text (see Figure 5.2). On the other side, we see the butchers breaking with the generalised presence of English as a secundary or primary language, as the signs do not show any trace of any other language than Catalan. Moreover, another interesting LL that contrasts the original thesis, can be seen in the sewing shops sign (see Figure 5.3) as it incorporates: Spanish ("Arreglos de Ropa ...") and a Chinese name (Zhang) - written in the roman alphabet - thus revealing the ethnicity of the owner to any passerby.
In the three different occassion that the LL was visited we saw that the most commonly used languages were both Catalan and Spanish. However, we also heard the use of an Arabic language and an African language, that due to our lack of understanding to these languages we could not properly identify. The location of the LL allows for the posibility of hearing not only the "native" languages - i.e. Catalan and Spanish - but also those brought here by migrant population, such as Moroccans or Senegalese.
5. Results and discussion
Figure 6: The LL token
Token Values:
Aesthetic value of the landscape: The token has an aesthetic value, being designed to be visually attractive to the passerby, containing different colors and designs of animals and vegetation, according to the LL observatory of Europe ().
Identity Value: Celebrating its 25th anniversary, the token is advertising another edition of Animac, which is part of the cultural life of the city, similarly speaking to other events such as ‘L’Aplec del Cargol’. In other words, it is intrinsically tied to the identity of the city of Lleida.
Productive value: The chosen LL is a publicity banner for a cultural event that requires the audience to acquire a ticket. Therefore, it has the capability to provide financial benefits for the council, thus endorsing consumption culture, i.e. capitalism.
Social value: The social value that this token shows is that of a sense of comunity from the gathering of the population of the city, but also other possible external comunities. In addition, many schools promote it through outings for the students, from primary and secundary education, in order to experience short and feature films that otherwise they may not have had the oportunity to do.
Historical value: Due to its, somewhat short history, the most notable value it has is the impact on the comnunity of lleida to host international festival, as it has in some ways opened the door to new arrivals. And thus, making it into a more culturaly vibrant city.
Spiritual value: As it is a promotional banner for a short fil festival, it has no spiritual value due to it not being connected with a religious or spiritual entity/institution.
The token we have analysed depicts the role of English as a global language, and its influence in the designing of LL’s that makes up our city. Furthermore, it serves as an example of Englishisation, which refers to the processes and ways where English has become part and parcel of the language repertoires in Lleida (Dalmau, class 18-1-2021). It is worthy to mention, how regardless of the pandemic that deprives the city of receiving the influx of foreign visitors (i.e the guest speakers and possible viewers) to the event promoted, English takes a fundamental role in the LL. Therefore, the purpose of the token might very well aim for an ‘intracultural’ consumption, challenging the assumption that the language serves as a tool of communication between speakers of different languages (McKay and Bokhorst-Heng, 2008, as cited in Sayers, 2010). Moreover, the inclusion of English can respond to the values that are frequently attached to the language. Sayers (2010), identifies six different meanings that define how English is perceived: English is advanced and sophisticated, fashion, cool, expressing love and non-mainstream social identities.
Being a top-down LL and taking into account the content and context of the token, we can claim that the themes that fit better are the "coolness, modernity and sophistication", using its prestige as a lure.
Lastly, we wanted to include the concept of glocalization, coined by Roland Robertson in 1992, which tries to define how the global and the local interplay in different manners, depending on various factors. Such viewpoint creates a picture-perfect depiction of the relationships developed between languages and its users, and in the case of the token, allows both the local (Catalan) and the global (English) to co-exist.
5. Concluding thoughts
To conclude the project, and thus our analysis of the Linguistic Landscape, we wanted to mention how taken back we were with the temporality LL tokens can have. As when we were doing the field work, we could better see the changes that are not as easily presevable in class. We wanted to mention this as on our second visit to the location the toke itself was no longer there, somthing that we did not predict and let alone expect. Moreover, the token is an example of the top-down linguistic policies interplaying with English as a Lingua franca or as a Global language. Despite the importance of Catalan, which is predominant in the token making it follow govermental guidelines, English is still very much taking the place that might have once been taken up by Catalan or Spanish a few years ago. Furthermore, as the token combines Catalan and English, it is taking up a glocalizing approach that connects both the local and the global.
With regards to the use of Lingusitc Landscapes as a pedagogical tool in our program - in order to help us understand the curriculum better - we believe it was an interesting and proactive approach to sociolinguistics that overall did help consolidate the knowledge learnt in class. The use of interactive platforms in substiution of the traditional, Word and PowerPoint, also was refreshing. Lastly, the field work needed for the project pushed us to see the city from a different perspective and prove we can be valid researchers, and thus knowledge generators.
6. References
Ley Política Lingüística 1998 (CAT) Retieved from: https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1998-2989
Map of Lleida (2021) Retreived from: https://paeria.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c64f6a2454734c3d8e3a85cd9e0a2a28
Mooney, A., & Evans, B. (2015). Language, Society and Power. Fourth edition. New York, United States of America: Routledge.
La Paeria (2019). Dades Estrangeres. Retreived from: https://aplicacionsweb.paeria.es/eOpenDataPublicWeb/faces/ca/cataleg/territori/demografia/dades-estrangers-2019/XLS/dades-estrangers-2019/dades-estrangers-2019.xlsLinguistic
Landscape observatory (CEO, 2021). International Landscape Observatory. Retreived fomr: https://www.coe.int/en/web/landscape/landscape-observatory.
Sayer, P. (2009). Using the linguistic landscape as a pedagogical resource. ELT Journal, 64(2), 143–154. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/
Dalmau, M. (2021). English Language in Context. Lecture notes, Universitat de Lleida, Catalonia.
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