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.

Typographic design of outdoor signage, restaurant authenticity, and consumers’ willingness to dine: extending semiotic theory

“…Uzzell (1984) implemented a qualitative approach to create a relationship between signs (e.g., photos) and interpretant (e.g., tourists' fantasy toward the object). Recently, Sheng and Buchanan (2022) adopted the semiotic theory to link signs (e.g., shopfront signboards, outdoor signage, and calligraphic plaque) in a destination to an interpretant (e.g., tourists' and residents' perception). Previous studies have provided an understanding of the link between sign and interpretant; however, other types of interpretant such as perceived authenticity in hospitality should also be studied to contribute to knowledge.…”

“…This study contributes to the prior literature. First, semiotic theory has previously been applied only in marketing (DeRosia, 2008;Grohmann et al, 2013;McCarthy and Mothersbaugh, 2002) and tourism (Hunter, 2016;Sheng and Buchanan, 2022;Uzzell, 1984).…”

“…Thus, our study is the first attempt to apply the semiotic theory in the hospitality context, particularly in the ethnic restaurant context. Although previous tourism literature linked certain components of the semiotic triangle (i.e., sign, object, interpretant) from the semiotic theory (Hunter, 2016;Sheng and Buchanan, 2022;Uzzell, 1984), such as tourists' interpretation of the sign (e.g., destination visual images) representing the object (e.g., destination) (Hunter, 2016), or residents' and tourists' satisfaction with the signs representing different businesses (Sheng and Buchanan, 2022), the linkage between restaurant outdoor signage and customer's authenticity has not been studied using the semiotic theory. In addition, our paper is one of the first in the tourism and hospitality field to investigate Chinese semiotics which is different from those English-dominated semiotics studies (Hunter, 2016;Uzzell, 1984).…”

“…tourists' fantasy toward the object). Recently, Sheng and Buchanan (2022) adopted the semiotic theory to link signs (e.g. shopfront signboards, outdoor signage and Typographic design of outdoor signage calligraphic plaque) in a destination to an interpretant (e.g.…”

“…This model originally indicates causal relationships between cues in a retail environment (e.g., retailers' promotional materials), consumers' judgments of retailers (e.g., perceived character), and their behavior toward those retailers. The existing literature applying the semiotic theory only focused on customers' mental reactions such as judgment and interpretation of the "sign" and "object" (Hunter, 2016;Sheng and Buchanan, 2022;Uzzell, 1984). However, the cue-judgment-behavior model (Jha et al, 2020) suggests that consumers' judgment also influences their behavior.…”