Traditional Visual Language: A Geographical Semiotic Analysis of Indigenous Linguistic Landscape of Ancient Waterfront Towns in China

Abstract

This paper investigates the characteristics of the indigenous linguistic landscape and the features of traditional visual language under the conceptual framework of Geo-semiotics, which has been generally overlooked in the literature. As a case study of the indigenous linguistic landscape situated in ancient waterfront towns of China, the ethnographic data was collected through a field-based survey for 3 months by recording hundreds of photographs of top-down and bottom-up signs, conducting semi-structured questionnaires, and in-depth interviews in the heritage precincts. The results show that the Chinese language firmly occupies a dominant position. The use of Chinese semiotic assemblages and historical linguistic objects including handwritten font, traditional Chinese characters, and calligraphic nameplates facilitate the nostalgia visual communication in the context of urbanization. In this light, this paper contributes to preserving the indigenous linguistic landscape and Chinese semiotic artifact in the sociolinguistics approach.