14. Melancholy Objects Remixed: A Multimodal Counterstatement on Photography in Urban Linguistics
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Ingo H. Warnke
Abstract
The chapter discusses the use of photographs in research on Linguistic Landscape. Based on the observation of a widespread use of photographic documentation, the status of photographs is critically reflected. The focus lies on a reading of Susan Sontag’s ([1977] 2014) Melancholy Objects. Here, conceptions of description and documentation are questioned, as they are common for some linguistic works, especially in the field of Urban Studies. Of particular importance is the examination of the tension between realism and surrealism as well as the question of the extraction of reality. The text, which is a remix of Susan Sontag’s ([1977] 2014) thoughts, is complemented by twenty photographs that address the limits of photographic representation in the linguistic text.
Abstract
The chapter discusses the use of photographs in research on Linguistic Landscape. Based on the observation of a widespread use of photographic documentation, the status of photographs is critically reflected. The focus lies on a reading of Susan Sontag’s ([1977] 2014) Melancholy Objects. Here, conceptions of description and documentation are questioned, as they are common for some linguistic works, especially in the field of Urban Studies. Of particular importance is the examination of the tension between realism and surrealism as well as the question of the extraction of reality. The text, which is a remix of Susan Sontag’s ([1977] 2014) thoughts, is complemented by twenty photographs that address the limits of photographic representation in the linguistic text.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Urban Linguistics: Ideas and Anchor Points 1
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I Bezugsfelder der urbanen Linguistik/ Fields of Reference of Urban Linguistics
- 1. Urban Variationist Sociolinguistics 33
- 2. ‘Rural’ and ‘Urban’ in Dialectology 52
- 3. Fundamentals of Urban Semiotics: Exemplified by Examples taken from the Chinese City 74
- 4. Experience as Moving Methodology: Notations on the Study of Urban Diversity 86
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II Kommunikationsraum Stadt/ City as Communicative Space
- 5. Urban Communities of Practice 117
- 6. Neue Dialekte im urbanen Europa 137
- 7. Urbanes Place-Making und Sprechen über Musik 165
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III Mobilität, Fluidität und Konstruktionen in städtischen Zeichenarealen/ Mobility, Fluidity and Constructions in Urban Semiotic Areas
- 8. Mobilities and Mobile Methods 191
- 9. Linguistic Landscapes 218
- 10. Semiotic Landscapes 245
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IV. Historizität der Stadt im Diskurs/ Historicity of the City in Discourse
- 11. Folk Linguistics and the Nostalgia of the Past City 271
- 12. Historical Discourse about Cities 292
- 13. Polyhistorizität im öffentlichen Raum 311
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V Experimente/ Experiments
- 14. Melancholy Objects Remixed: A Multimodal Counterstatement on Photography in Urban Linguistics 333
- 15. The HeiURBAN Database: A Brief and Unconventional Position Piece 394
- Index 415
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Inhalt V
- Urban Linguistics: Ideas and Anchor Points 1
-
I Bezugsfelder der urbanen Linguistik/ Fields of Reference of Urban Linguistics
- 1. Urban Variationist Sociolinguistics 33
- 2. ‘Rural’ and ‘Urban’ in Dialectology 52
- 3. Fundamentals of Urban Semiotics: Exemplified by Examples taken from the Chinese City 74
- 4. Experience as Moving Methodology: Notations on the Study of Urban Diversity 86
-
II Kommunikationsraum Stadt/ City as Communicative Space
- 5. Urban Communities of Practice 117
- 6. Neue Dialekte im urbanen Europa 137
- 7. Urbanes Place-Making und Sprechen über Musik 165
-
III Mobilität, Fluidität und Konstruktionen in städtischen Zeichenarealen/ Mobility, Fluidity and Constructions in Urban Semiotic Areas
- 8. Mobilities and Mobile Methods 191
- 9. Linguistic Landscapes 218
- 10. Semiotic Landscapes 245
-
IV. Historizität der Stadt im Diskurs/ Historicity of the City in Discourse
- 11. Folk Linguistics and the Nostalgia of the Past City 271
- 12. Historical Discourse about Cities 292
- 13. Polyhistorizität im öffentlichen Raum 311
-
V Experimente/ Experiments
- 14. Melancholy Objects Remixed: A Multimodal Counterstatement on Photography in Urban Linguistics 333
- 15. The HeiURBAN Database: A Brief and Unconventional Position Piece 394
- Index 415
