Abstract
<p><em>This is a study of the languages that occurred naturally in Tahrir Square at the heart of Cairo during the revolution in 2011. This paper proposes a vivid perspective to the Linguistic Landscape (LL) research by investigating the Egyptian revolution protest signs and the semiotic aspects of communication of over one hundred photographs. This paper is situated within Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) methodological approaches and </em><em>the grounded theory approach </em><em>which have implications for investigating protest signs. The main objective of this study is to show how the LL of Tahrir Square protest signs can offer some insights into Egyptian national identity. The unit of analysis was protest sign in search for a dominant pattern that represents the Egyptian national identity. After analyzing the protest signs and the photographs, two main dominant patterns found in these signs which are unique features of Egyptian national identity. These patterns were sarcasm and faith. </em><em></em></p>
Highlights
Signs in cities are used to spread or declare important information to the general public in the public sphere. Chandler (2007, p. 2) claims that “in a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects”
The aim of this study is to show how the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of Tahrir Square protest signs may offer some insights into Egyptian national identity
I have grouped the data into patterns of similarity or topics utilizing the grounded theory approach. 6.3 Data Analysis The analysis begins with evidence of reshaping the public space as an indication of rescaling of power, and examines solidarity, symbolic capital, sarcasm, and multilingual signs. 6.3.1 Reshaping the Public Space of Tahrir Square Tahrir Sq., with its geographical, historical, national and symbolic status among Egyptians, has been reshaped on the first day of the revolution
Summary
Signs in cities are used to spread or declare important information to the general public in the public sphere. Chandler (2007, p. 2) claims that “in a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects”. 2) claims that “in a semiotic sense, signs take the form of words, images, sounds, gestures and objects”. These signs do not have any value in themselves unless the general public interpret them and add meaning to them. Protest signs in public spaces usually denote objection or disapproval to an official entity. This entity may be a law or a ruler. The aim of this study is to show how the LL of Tahrir Square protest signs may offer some insights into Egyptian national identity. To present the theoretical framework of this study, the concepts of semiotics, linguistic landscape, national identity and revolution were discussed.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
