A study of the commodification of multilingualism in four cafés in China

3.1 Research site

This study focuses on four coffee houses opened in Goldfish Lane (金鱼巷, Jinyu Xiang), a 271-m lane in Quanzhou, which is a second-tier city located on the southeastern coast of China. Goldfish Lane, once a run-down lane, became famous after its renovation and redevelopment by the local government in 2017. The lane hosts a complex linguistic landscape, including locally flavored signage as well as new signage marking the emergence of consumerist identities. There are four cafés in the small lane, i.e., peace piece, OH KAFE, Time Falls Café, and Teresa Book. The first three cafés started their business in 2018 and the last one in early 2019. The four cafés provide a site for us to explore the construction of late-modern consumer identities in China through the commodification of language in their linguistic landscape.

3.2 Research methods

This study adopted ethnographic approaches (Blommaert 2013). My research included several trips to the cafés from March to May 2019 to make observations and take photos of the interior and exterior landscapes of the shops with the permission of the café owners. Backhaus’s (2006: 55) definition of a sign as “any piece of written text within a spatially definable frame” was adopted in the survey.

Recent linguistic landscape studies emphasize the importance of interviews to gain a better and deeper understanding of the agents and motives behind the linguistic landscape. Informal interviews were conducted with shop owners and workers for an emic view of the four shops’ linguistic landscape. In addition, WeChat connections were established with the four shop owners for more information concerning the design of their shop names and their online marketing strategies.

After the data collection, a detailed analysis was conducted in terms of language choice and preference. According to Scollon and Scollon (2003: 120), the preferred code is usually placed at the top, on the left or in the center of the sign, while the marginalized code is placed at the bottom, on the right or in the margins.

4.1 Case study 1: peace piece

Figure 1 shows the shop front of a café called peace piece. This photo was taken in early April 2019, when visitors could not find the name of the café on the shop front, except for two lines of text in English: “eat more cake” and “keep it sweet and simple.” The name of the café (see Figure 2) was added on the shop front in late April 2019 when local authorities in charge of the renovation of the lane designed and provided the board.

Figure 1:

The window front of peace piece (April 2019).

Figure 2:

The sign for peace piece (May 2019).

Through onsite enquiries with the shop workers and WeChat contact with the shop keeper, I was told that there is no special meaning and purpose behind the shop name. However, for visitors with some knowledge of Western music, the shop name “peace piece” may remind them of the jazz piece recorded by Bill Evans, indicating the café owner’s good education and cultural taste. It seems that the shop owner or designer markets the café by referencing globally recognized pop culture, similar to the creative mixture of pop music and marketing through the use of English by a food shop named “2PAC STORE” found by Higgins (2009) in a suburban area of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The use of English as symbolic capital in peace piece performs an act of scale jumping (Blommaert 2010), connoting the good quality of its goods and services, projecting a modern and fashionable image of the café, and bestowing a Western elite lifestyle for its targeted customers.

Through the shopfront windows one may notice the name of the café “peace piece” inscribed on the interior wall, with the slogan “keep it sweet and simple” printed below. The slogan is a popular variant of the KISS principle (i.e., keep it simple, stupid), a design principle promoted by the U.S. Navy in 1960 (Dalzell and Victor 2008: 384). According to this principle, simplicity should be a key goal in design, and unnecessary complexity should be avoided. However, the slogan itself seems ambiguous because in this context “it” can refer to cake, life, or both. The ambiguous use of the pronoun in the slogan may be viewed as a case of a localized product of vernacular globalization, suggesting the designer’s creative appropriation of the KISS principle.

Figure 3 is a sign placed in front of the café showing the business hours of the café. The name of the café is offered uppermost, followed by the slogan “Have a Sweet Day in peace piece Shop” and a list of products provided in the shop. The business hours are shown at the center, followed with a Quick Response Code. The shop owner regularly posts pictures of cakes produced by the shop in their WeChat Moments. In spite of the varying designs of these cakes, one common feature of the pictures is the placement of an English newspaper or magazine beside the cake (see Figure 4).

Figure 3:

A printed sign stating peace piece’s business hours (April 2019).

Figure 4:

A screenshot of the shop owner’s WeChat moments (April 2019).

In addition to English, French is also used in the interior design of the shop. Figure 5 shows a picture hung on the wall of the café. As can be seen in the image, the name of a famous French painter (Henri Matisse) is printed below a print of one of his artworks. A magazine (see Figure 6) with a French and English name is placed on table. It is not certain whether customers can appreciate the picture or read the magazine, but the deployment of French, together with English, creates a fashionable image for the café and an elite lifestyle for its customers.

Figure 5:

A picture on the wall of peace piece (April 2019).

Figure 6:

A French–English magazine on a table at peace piece (April 2019).

It is interesting to note that although online pictures of the shop’s cakes are shown in combination with English newspapers or magazines, the captions are written in Chinese (Figure 4). There is a temporary sign (Figure 7) behind the front window of the shop. A comparison of Figures 3 and 7 shows that except for the café’s name and the business hours, which are written in English, most of the information is written in Chinese (i.e., simplified Chinese characters), such as the invitation to customers to add the café owner’s contact through WeChat since the café requires customers to preorder the products through WeChat. Figure 8 is the menu of the café. As can be seen from this figure, all the products except for one (i.e., see u) are written in Chinese. It seems that those people with some basic knowledge of English can understand the English used for the name and the business hours of the café, but more essential information concerning the procedure of making an order and the kinds of products provided is written in Chinese, given the fact that most customers are Chinese with varying degrees of English proficiency.

Figure 7:

A handwritten sign showing peace piece’s business hours (April 2019).

Figure 8:

The menu of peace piece (April 2019).

To sum up, to stage the front of peace piece (i.e., its shop front) English is used exclusively for its emblematic functions. The deployment of English conveys the values of Western culture and a Western lifestyle, thus projecting a fashionable image for the shop and having a strong power of attraction for individuals and clients. When it comes to backstage, simplified Chinese characters are used to express factual informational content and serve as the true instrument of communication.

4.2 Case study 2: OH KAFE

OH KAFE is located at the western end of the lane. Figure 9 shows the sign of the café, which was also designed and provided by local authorities according to the original name of the café. As can be seen from Figure 9, alphabetic letters, all capitalized, are used in the café name. Those with some knowledge of English may easily identify this commercial establishment as a café. Through onsite chats with the owner, Sam, I was told that kafe was a word from Africa and sounded the same as the English word café. In addition, the initial letters of the two words OH KAFE could be combined together to form OK. An online search shows that kafe comes from Haiti Creole, meaning coffee. It is also used in Norwegian and Swedish to refer to café. The combined use of English and another foreign language in the shop name did produce some desired effects. According to Sam, some foreigners visited her café and expressed interest in her creative naming practice. When asked about the reason for not choosing Chinese for her café name, Sam said that it was difficult to choose a Chinese name.

Figure 9:

The sign of OH KAFE designed by local authorities (April 2019).

It is necessary to point out that despite Sam’s claim that kafe is not an English word, the use of the Roman script is indexical of the English language. Seargeant (2012: 189) argues that “the issue of what counts as English for different people in different contexts manifest itself in the way that people regulate and respond to the language.” In Japan, the use of the Roman script indexes the English language and evokes positive associations of English. Seargeant’s view also applies in the context of China, where the use of alphabetic letters is viewed by most of the Chinese people as an example of English no matter what is written in the script.

Figure 10 shows an English sign on the café’s kitchen curtain. As can be seen from this figure, below the café’s name there are some seemingly ungrammatical English expressions “SAW KITCHEN SOU WHAT” on the sign. When the researcher asked Sam about the meaning of the English sign, the researcher was informed that Saw is her previous English name and Sou the English name of her sister. “SAW KITCHEN” means her kitchen, and “SOU WHAT” sounds like “so what.” The sign indexes Sam’s creative language play with English, creating a relaxing atmosphere for her customers.

Figure 10:

An English sign on OH KAFE’s kitchen curtain (April 2019).

Like peace piece, OH KAFE also has books and magazines placed on its tables (see Figure 11). Different from peace piece, which features English and French bilingual magazines, OH KAFE mainly uses Chinese books and magazines. One finds many books on the bookshelf. Most of them are written in Chinese. Take the magazine in Figure 11 for example. Although there are some English words on its cover, the content is written in Chinese.

Figure 11:

A Chinese magazine on a table at OH KAFE (April 2019).

A glance through Sam’s WeChat Moments (see Figure 12) shows that Sam likes to put an English logo, OH KITCHEN, a variation of her café name, on her products. The initial letters of the two words OH KITCHEN can also be combined to form OK. It is interesting to point out that Sam likes to write her captions in traditional Chinese characters. In the Chinese mainland, traditional Chinese characters were the dominant script before the founding of the People’s Republic of China, but were gradually replaced by simplified Chinese characters. Nowadays, most people write using simplified Chinese characters. However, the function of code choice on WeChat enables people to write traditional Chinese characters. During chats with Sam, Sam said that she preferred to use traditional Chinese characters on her WeChat Moments.

Figure 12:

A screenshot of the shop owner’s WeChat moments (April 2019).

Figure 13 is a handwritten sign on the café front. At the top of the sign is the café’s name, OH KAFE. In the middle is a string of prayers of the same design, written in four simplified Chinese characters. At the bottom is a list of products served in the café, written in simplified Chinese characters. Figure 14 is a menu of the café. One can notice that both Chinese (simplified Chinese characters) and foreign languages (Italian and English) are used in the menu, with Chinese being on the left and foreign languages on the right. There is a sign beside the menu, informing customers of the methods of payment. Except for the café name and various Quick Response Codes, the main information is written in simplified Chinese characters. Similarly, beside the kitchen curtain there is a small handwritten sign saying “Staff Only,” which is written in simplified Chinese characters (see Figure 10).

Figure 13:

A handwritten sign on the café front (April 2019).

Figure 14:

The menu of OH KAFE (April 2019).

To sum up, English is creatively appropriated in the interior and exterior landscapes of OH KAFE. Despite the English-dominant landscape of the café and its multilingual menu, it seems that the main instrument of written communication is simplified Chinese characters, which is similar to the practice of peace piece.

4.3 Case study 3: Time Falls Café

At the eastern end of the lane there is a two-floor café called Time Falls Café, several steps away from peace piece. Figure 15 shows the sign of the café. As can be seen from this sign, two simplified Chinese characters 时落 (shi luo ‘time falls’) are placed in a larger size above the English (TIME FALLS CAFE), with the image of a leaf between the two characters. The café owner told me that the café name meant that the experience of solitude and tranquility in the café is like the falling of leaves in autumn. It seems that her inspiration is grounded in traditional Chinese culture, where the image of falling leaves in autumn evokes feelings of being alone and serene. When asked the reason for using English on the sign, she replied that coffee was an imported product from abroad.

Figure 15:

The sign for Time Falls Café (April 2019).

There are some variations in the exterior linguistic landscape of Time Falls in terms of language choice. Near the entrance to the café hangs a wooden plate (see Figure 16) showing that the café is open. The information is written in Japanese kana characters いらっしゃいませ ‘welcome’ and placed above Japanese kanji 営業中 ‘open,’ which look like traditional Chinese characters at first sight. Beside the plate hang two curtains on which one can notice the use of Japanese kana characters いらっしゃいませ ‘welcome.’ Figure 17 is a handwritten sign behind the shop window. It is written in simplified Chinese characters, informing passersby of the business hours of the café.

Figure 16:

Japanese signs at Time Falls Café (May 2019).

Figure 17:

A handwritten sign showing the business hours of Time Falls Café (May 2019).

Customers entering the café can easily recognize the multilingual landscape inside the café. On the counter lie two magazines on design (see Figure 18) which feature English and Japanese texts. Figure 19 is a sack beside the door of the café, on which some English words are quite prominent. On the second floor of the café there is a paper sack by Le sac en papier (a brand popular in the Chinese mainland), on which French is written (see Figure 20).

Figure 18:

Japanese magazines on the counter of Time Falls Café (April 2019).

Figure 19:

An English sign on the second floor of Time Falls Café (April 2019).

Figure 20:

A French sign on the second floor of Time Falls Café (April 2019).

Figure 21 shows the menu of the café. As can be seen in the image, Chinese, English, and Italian are used in the first two columns. The first line of the two columns introduces two main types of coffee served in the café. It is written in English or Italian first, followed by Chinese, giving prominence to the foreign languages rather than Chinese. However, the following lines reverse the order, with Chinese on the left or top and in a larger font than English and Italian. The third column also lists some products served in the café. Unlike the first two columns, five lines in the third column are written exclusively in Chinese. It is interesting to note that some images are used in the third column to replace Chinese characters. For example, in the fourth line, an image of a cup of coffee is used to replace the Chinese characters 咖啡 (kafei ‘coffee’). This design may be based on the considerations of limited space and symmetrical design. On the counter there are two signs regarding payment (see Figure 22). Similar to the signs in OH KAFE (see Figure 14), instructions on the two signs are written in simplified Chinese characters. The prominence of Chinese on the menu and the signs about payment suggests that simplified Chinese characters perform the transactional function in daily written communication.

Figure 21:

The menu of Time Falls Café (April 2019).

Figure 22:

The signs about payment in Time Falls Café (April 2019).

4.4 Case study 4: Teresa Book

Located in the middle of the lane, Teresa Book started business in early 2019. Figure 23 is a sign showing its shop name. As this figure shows, there is an image of a traditional Chinese woman drinking coffee. Traditional Chinese characters and English are used in the shop’s name, with traditional Chinese characters occupying a more prominent place than English. Onsite enquiries with the shop owner, Miss Qi, revealed that the name of the café was designed by a professional designer. Teresa is the shop owner’s English name, and 德兰 (delan) is one version of an English translation of Teresa. When asked about the reason for the choice of traditional Chinese characters, she replied that traditional Chinese characters had an image-like character even though she wrote simplified Chinese characters in daily life. It seems that the image of a traditional Chinese woman drinking coffee and the choice of traditional Chinese characters and English construct the café as simultaneously a space of tradition and modernity.

Figure 23:

The sign for Teresa Book (April 2019).

Figure 24 shows a sign listing the café’s menu. As can be seen from the sign, Chinese, English, and Italian are used in the menu. The English word Menu at the top is written in a larger front, and the products are written in Chinese, followed by their English and Italian translations. In other words, Chinese dominates the signs both visually and functionally. One may notice the inconsistent use of Chinese scripts, as is evidenced by traditional Chinese characters together with some simplified Chinese characters. For example, a traditional Chinese character 熱 (re ‘hot’) instead of its simplified form 热 is used on the menu, but one product named 云南水洗 (Yunan shuixi ‘Yunan washed’) is written in simplified rather than traditional Chinese characters 雲南水洗. In addition, there is a misspelling (i.e., washeded) in the English translation of 云南水洗, which may suggest the error was made by the designer or a production worker. In addition to Chinese, English, and Italian, a French sign on the wall (see Figure 25) is quite prominent. Although Miss Qi said that she checked the meaning of the French sign, she could not remember it during the interview.

Figure 24:

The menu of Teresa Book (May 2019).

Figure 25:

A French sign on the wall of Teresa Book (May 2019).

According to Miss Qi, café culture includes reading and art culture in addition to coffee culture. She includes “Book” in her café name to show the association between coffee and book. Figure 26 shows one of the café’s bookshelves, with both Chinese and English books on it. There is a row of artworks displayed in the café, showing Quanzhou’s local scenic spots. Figure 27 shows one tourist attraction, Luoyang Bridge. As can be seen from the picture, apart from the image of the bridge, simplified Chinese characters are used together with English to introduce the scenic spot. The following text providing information about coffee is written in simplified Chinese characters. There are also some pictures hanging on the café’s wall (see Figure 28). These pictures are taken from The scent of a dream: Travels in the world of coffee, a book about world coffee culture by Sebastiao Salgado, a famous Brazilian photographer. As can be seen from Figure 28, at the bottom right corner of the picture is the name of the book and its author, all in simplified Chinese characters. These pictures suggest that the shop owner highly values knowledge about coffee, which can be viewed as a marketing strategy. It seems that the café owner is trying to construct the café as both global and local through the use of the artworks.

Figure 26:

One of the bookshelves at Teresa Book (April 2019).

Figure 27:

One of the artworks displayed in Teresa Book (May 2019).

Figure 28:

A picture on the wall of Teresa Book (May 2019).

To sum up, the visual prominence of Chinese on the menu suggests that Chinese bears the functional load of ideational communication while other languages and scripts such as English, French, Italian, and traditional Chinese characters act as symbolic and ornamental elements in the café’s landscape.