JCA Cinemes, Closed. The Englishization of entertainment

08/04/2021

Lucía Silva, Oumayma Kerchaoui and Graciela Armijo

                                 Figure 1. First picture of the token taken by Oumayma. 12 March 2021.

1. INTRODUCTION

If we go outside and take a look at our surroundings, we’ll realize that languages can be found everywhere. Whether it is on shop windows, posters, or traffic signs, to mention but a few, there are linguistic landscapes everywhere we go. According to Gorter (2008), when we talk about the concept ‘linguistic landscape’, we are talking about both the literal study of the languages we see in the signs and the representation of those languages. In this way, we have decided to analyze a linguistic landscape of our choice in order to explain and understand all of the meanings behind it. The linguistic landscape (LL) we chose is a poster situated in Plaça de la Paeria, in Lleida. The neighborhood in which we can find this token is the Centre Històric (see context for the details). In the poster we are presented with a text that explains that the cinema will remain closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  

The theater was founded by the Cortada Argilés family in the early 1900’s (La Paeria, 2013). Due to the Spanish Civil War, the theater was confiscated by the Generalitat and later recovered again by the family (La Paeria, 2013). Gradually, the theater becomes an entertainment icon of the city, as it is the venue for major film premieres, festivals and theatrical performances, among others (La Paeria, 2013).The first thing written on the poster is ''CLOSED'' in English and in bold letters.  By locating the poster in this place, the managers of the theater aim to catch the public’s attention for them to read the rest of the poster. Afterwards, we are presented with a text, this time in Catalan, in which the situation is explained further: “Seguint les indicacions de la Generalitat sobre el Covid-19, aquest establiment ha de romandre tancat fins a nova ordre”. Hence, the token is multilingual. As primary languages we find Catalan and English. 

Catalan, which appears as one of the primary referential languages, as it is used to provide the most amount of relevant information in the poster. Thus, it serves the referential speech function; that of the presentation of data, facts and information. Moreover, English is also a primary language because it is used to attract the audience’s attention with the usage of a larger and bolder letter size “CLOSED”. The other language used is Spanish as a secondary language “Mas Q Menos”. 

In this case, it is a commercial sign and the activity domain is commerce. It belongs to this activity because a good is extended to everyone in return for money. In this case, selling culture. We are talking, then, about culture, entertainment and leisure consumption. The sign is from a cinema, a place to which citizens go for entertainment, in this case, the most known and oldest movie theater in the city of Lleida. Moreover, cinemas generated significant income before last year. It is signaling that it will not be opening for a while as a result of the COVID-19 situation, which means a significant loss regarding the income that cinemas usually generate.  Regarding the support, it is a printed poster, and the Latin alphabet the only one we can find, making the poster monoglossic. 

 

2. CONTEXTUALIZATION

The language landscape that we have chosen is located in Plaça de la Paeria in Lleida, as we can see in Figure 1.  The Plaça de La Paeria is one of the most emblematic and central meeting points for the habitants of Lleida and for those who visit the city. This square is situated next to the town council, also known as La Paeria, hence the name of the square, and it is the commercial axis of the city. The commercial axis of the city is also known as Carrer Major and is particularly famous for being Spain’s longest commercial outdoors area (FACEC, 2014). It runs for 3,5km and more than 450 shops can be found in the many different streets that make up the commercial axis.  It is one of Lleida’s busiest streets: having more than 15,000 visitors daily, a figure that increases up to 25,000 during the summer (FACEC, 2014).  The visitors of the commercial axis come from other areas of the city and from other nearby regions such as Garrigues, Segrià, Urgell and La Franja (FACEC, 2014). People from all socio-economic backgrounds visit the streets of Carrer Major throughout the day.

Despite being one of the city’s most visited areas, the habitants of Centre Històric could be qualified as low/impoverished socio-economic background. Centre Històric is mainly populated by immigrants. La Paeria (2012) published a demographic study of the habitants of the city and it revealed that approximately 44.81% of the population in Centre Històric were foreigners; in contrast with the 55.19% who are national Spaniards. The reason behind the high presence of migrant population is explained by Aguilar and Bellet (2012, p.4) as a process of “investment in the city outskirts and a divestment in the city center”. In other words, middle and high incomes moved from the city center; from its old historic constructions and the people from lower incomes who could not afford to change their residence, to other areas of the city. Thus, foreigners from different countries and with scarce economic means who sought cheap rental settled in the low-demanded area. Moreover, Aguilar and Bellet (2014, p.5) clarify that "surely the volume of the immigrant population would be much higher if you could count the floating and the irregular population that it really lodges”. Consequently, a vast variety of languages can be seen and heard in this area of the city.

Figure 2. Location of the LL token. Picture taken from Google Maps. March 2021.

3. METHODOLOGY

The data-collection procedure that was followed in order to gather and select the linguistic token was to walk through different areas around the city. While walking through the city, we observed and took notice of the linguistic landscape that surrounds us. The first walk-through, from which this token was chosen, was done by two members of the group: Lucía and Oumayma, the 12th of March 2021. During this visit different pictures were taken: pictures of the linguistic token and the context in which it can be found. This particular token was chosen because the banner was striking to the eye. The English word “CLOSED” is highlighted with the help of a clipart of a banner, which catches the public’s attention. Moreover, the word is eye-catching due to its marked connotations regarding the usage of English in a traditional Catalan city.

                      Figure 3. Picture of the token from the second walk-through taken by Graciela. 1 April 2021.

In order to analyze the variability of our token, a second walk-through was performed several weeks later by one member of the group: Graciela. During the second walk-through the token maintained its previous location, as we can see in Figure 2.This is due to the fact that covid-19 capacity restrictions are still active by the Catalan Government (PROCICAT, 2021) and the theater needed its possible customers to know that because of this, they are still not able to open to the public.

Regarding the language policies, this particular token follows the bottom-up policy. In this case, the token was created by individuals (theater owners/managers) without the involvement of official linguistic planners or policies.

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

                           

                                Figure 4. Picture of the token taken by Oumayma. 12 March 2021.

Our token, which we can see in Figure 3, is mainly informative and is made precisely to communicate news to the public that may be interested or affected by the closure of the theater. This advertising poster is quite recent since it talks about Covid-19 and some of the repercussions it had on businesses, in this case, the cinema. Furthermore, the poster addresses directly the frequent customers with the usage of phatic speech: “Desitgem veure-us de nou aviat, us estimem!”.

Regarding values, the European Linguistic Landscape observatory list was followed. Our token could be qualified as having different values. To begin with, one of the values that can be attributed to this token, is the value of identity. This can be observed by the usage of different languages in order to appeal to specific groups in mind. By using the languages chosen, and its identities, the theater depicts that it is situated in a multicultural environment. Moreover, the token could also be qualified as having a social value. This is due to the fact that  this theater provides a social meeting point for the community.

 In recent years we have been able to see the expansion of English throughout Lleida. This expansion is not only observed in business but also in the great increase of English academies present in the city; as a result of the amount of people interested in learning the language. Additionally, many businesses choose to pick their name in English. As Gorter (2010, p.97) explains “English is used to associate a product with a social stereotype of modernity, progress and globalization". Thus, it is quite common for advertisers and shop-owners to mix one (or more) local language with English so as to portray modernity and advancement. An example of this is the shop Mr. Mobile, a store dedicated to the sale and repair of technological devices. Even though its name is in English, this store originated in Lleida, which is a city that mostly speaks Catalan and Spanish. Another example is the shop “Tea Bubble”, a Chinese-owned store located in Carrer Baixada de la Trinitat, 6. (See blog entry: “Tea Bubble: Identi-teas of a local shop”).

As a consequence of globalization, the fame of Lleida has expanded outside the country and a high number of tourists, international students and migrants can be observed throughout the city. Even though the poster is in Catalan and it is mostly aimed to Catalan/Spanish speakers, English is used to make the message clearer and to catch the passersby’s attention. All in all, this portrays the Englishization of Lleida.

5. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

When performing this assignment, we discovered that Linguistic Landscapes are a great tool to learn about the field of sociolinguistics. To put it in other words, we, the students, are acting as knowledge generators and searching for a new way to learn. As stated by Gorter (2012, p.10), ''once you have started to study the language on the signage in urban environments, the experience of walking down a shopping street is forever different''. In this way, we realize that languages are everywhere, and everything has a reason to be. After the completion of this project, we started to look at our surroundings from a different perspective and with different eyes. We go outside and look at every poster, graffiti, traffic sign, and ask ourselves what the meaning of those landscapes is and why they are written in a certain language. In this way, students are given a practical activity to do, and they can explore their surroundings and look for things that they had probably seen before, but to which they hadn't paid attention. Students, then, are involved in a dynamic activity that includes theoretical learning and practical learning, letting them apply their knowledge on sociolinguistics to the real world.

6. REFERENCES AND WEBSOURCES 

Aguilar, L., Bellet, C. (2012). La ciudad evitada y omitida: el Centro Histórico de Lleida. Del vacío a espacio marginal. Ponencia: Sociedades rotas

Federació d'associacions de Comerciants de l’Eix Comercial de Lleida (FACEC). (2014). Qui som [Information blog]. Retrieved from http://www.eixcomerciallleida.com/ca/welcome/quisom the 25th of March 2021.

Gorter, D. (2012) Foreword: Signposts in the Linguistic Landscape. In: Linguistic Landscapes, Multilingualism and Social Change (ed. by C. Hélot, M. Barni, R. Janssems & C. Bagna). Berlin: Peter Lang.

Gorter, D. (2006). Introduction: The study of the linguistic landscape as a new approach to multilingualism. International Journal of Multilingualism, 3(1), 1-6.

La Paeria, (2013). Lleida ret homenatge a Jordi Cortada. Retrieved from https://www.paeria.cat/cat/ajuntament/noticies.asp?Detall=true&IdNoticia=18236 the 1st of April 2021.

Mooney, A. & Evans, B. (2015). Chapter 5. Linguistic Landscapes. In: Language, Society and Power. London & New York: Routledge. 86-107.

PROCICAT, (2021). Mesures vigents per la Covid-19. Retrieved from https://interior.gencat.cat/es/arees_dactuacio/proteccio_civil/consells_autoproteccio_emergencia/malalties-transmissibles-emergents-amb-potencial-alt-risc-/noves-mesures-per-contenir-els-brots-covid-19/  the 1st of April 2021.