Acceso usuarios
Yongjian Luo
, Linda Tsung
Gentrification has significantly transformed the urban landscape in China. However, a review of the literature reveals a lack of data on the relationship between the linguistic landscape and gentrification in the country. Additionally, existing scholarship in other contexts tends to focus unidirectionally on the effects of gentrification on the linguistic landscape, overlooking the counteractive role that the linguistic landscape can play in gentrification. Drawing on the spatial triad model, this study employs an ethnographic approach to investigate the linguistic landscape of a gentrifying heritage neighborhood in Kunming, China, thereby revealing the relationship between the linguistic landscape and gentrification in the urban redevelopment context. The findings indicate that the linguistic landscape in this neighborhood reflects the gentrification plan, while simultaneously serving as a counteracting force that influences the progression of gentrification. The compatible and antagonistic interplay between the linguistic landscape and gentrification across three social moments works synergistically to (re)shape this neighborhood's landscape. This study represents one of the first attempts to document the linguistic landscape in a gentrifying neighborhood in China and offers a framework for examining bidirectional effects between gentrification and the linguistic landscape, illuminating dialectical relationships involving the state, society, and individuals.
