A semiotic portrait of a big Chinese city

Abstract

Urban communication studies is a growing field of research aiming to reveal the regularities of human interaction in an urban context. The goal of the present study is to examine the semiotics of a big Chinese city as a complex communicative system and its effect on the social development of urban community. The material includes over 700 units (toponyms, street signs, advertisements, memorials, local foods and souvenirs, mass media, etc.) mostly collected in Tianjin, China’s fourth biggest city with a population of almost 14 million people. The research methodology is based on critical discourse analysis, ethnographic and semiotic methods, and narrative analysis. The study reveals the structure of communication in a big Chinese city and the integration of language into the city landscape. It indicates that urban historical memories are manifested in the form of memorials, symbols, historic and contemporary narratives. The physical context is associated with names of streets and other topological objects. Verbal and visual semiotic signs are used to ensure people’s psychological and physical safety. Social advertising predominantly deals with the propaganda of Chinese governmental policy, traditional values and ‘civilized behaviour’. Chinese urban subcultures, such as ‘ant tribe, ‘pendulums’, ‘shamate’, etc., reflect new social realities. Food and foodways are defined by cultural values and different aspects of social identity. The image of a big Chinese city is also affected by globalization tendencies and the COVID-19 pandemic. The research framework presented in the study provides an opportunity to show a wide panorama of modern urban life. It can be extrapolated to the investigation of other big cities and their linguistic landscapes.