Multilingualism and Mobility: A Linguistic Landscape Analysis of Three Neighbourhoods in Malmö, Sweden

Abstract

This master’s thesis, through the use of linguistic landscape analysis, examines three neighbourhoods in the city of Malmö, Sweden (Västra Hamnen, Möllevången and Rosengård), in order to investigate how multilingualism, specifically as a consequence of globalization, is negotiated within public space. Physical text in public space works both to reflect and reinforce wider social processes and provides insight into the way that a particular space is structured socially. Through the examination of storefronts in each of these neighbourhoods, playing close attention to each space’s historical background, this thesis aims to establish how the mobility of language afforded by globalization manifests in the linguistic landscape and how, in turn, language works as a tool for individuals in these spaces to assert themselves (actively or passively) in response to the forces of globalization. Results of this analysis show that multilingualism holds a high value within the linguistic landscape of Malmö, Sweden. Furthermore, that multilingualism is used in order to provide each neighbourhood with a unique sense of place.

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