Multilingual advertising in the linguistic landscape of Seoul

Abstract

This study examines commercial signs in arguably the two most visited tourism districts in Seoul, namely Myeongdong and Insadong. It focuses on beauty and food businesses and analyzes featured languages and their content and roles in signage. This article argues that business types, specialized marketing focus, and intended sales pitch influence business owners’ linguistic choices. The findings of the study suggest that the beauty industry relies heavily on English in general, but the power of K‐Beauty popularized by ‘Hallyu’ (The Korean Wave) beyond Korea inevitably invites linguistic accommodation in the form of using Chinese and Japanese. In general, the business category of beauty features a more prevalent use of English than the gastronomic business in this study. Moreover, as an area specializing in traditions and cultural heritage, Insadong shows more signs exclusively in Korean than in Myeongdong.

Americano, latte, or English

“…Our findings support previous research highlighting how English and coffee shops are sites of modernity and Western consumption (Lee, 2006;Tan & Tan, 2015). Additionally, we found, like Lee (2019), that Korean can be part of constructing a coffee shop as comfortable and nostalgic, as demonstrated by Seongsudong Coffee. However, our findings also push back against recent work on Korea's linguistic landscape.…”

“…A limited number of studies have examined the role of English in Korea's linguistic landscape (e. g. Vlack, 2011, Lawrence, 2012Park & Yang, 2015;Tan & Tan, 2015;Lee, 2019;Choi, Tatar & Kim, 2019). Importantly, Tan and Tan (2015: 66) found that English is often used in the brand names of products and stores and serves a decorative function in popular commercial areas, including those not frequented by tourists.…”

“…Additionally, some coffee shops emphasize their Korean elements, as discussed in Lee's (2019) analysis of Seoul's linguistic landscape. Lee (2019: 510) suggests that some coffee shops purposefully use only Korean as part of a unique identity and brand, drawing on nostalgia and a desire for a more retro style.…”

English fever and coffee: Transient cosmopolitanism and the rising cost of distinction

“…For example, it can be used both to convey information and to entice customers through the associations they make with English. In their work on English advertising, Tan and Tan (2015: 75–76) suggest that English functions as a status marker and view the use of English as “symbolic rather than information-giving in nature” (as cited in Lee, 2019: 501).…”

‘Sejong the Great would turn in his grave!’

“…The salient presence of English in the linguistic landscape of the Outer and Expanding Circle countries mainly because of the visual appeal of its foreignness (Backhaus, 2019) is not unheard of, and its extensive use in the Korean linguistic landscape has been reported in numerous studies (e.g., Lawrence, 2012; Lee, 2019; McPhail, 2018). However, perceptions of the Korean public vis-à-vis this practice have rarely been explored thus far despite scholarly observations that nationalistic language attitudes in Korea are just as prominent as the heated pursuit of English (J. S.–Y.…”