Multilingualism in Public Spaces

Advocates of multilingualism are always seeking new ways to articulate the advantages inherent in living out life in more than one language. This volume brings together researchers from across Europe to explore sociolinguistic perspectives on multilingualism, with specific emphasis on identity, diversity, and social cohesion, as they focus explicitly on the potential of this phenomenon to empower individuals, groups, and communities. Positioned around the idea of empowerment, this book explores the potential of multilingualism to overcome divisions and build social cohesion. In particular, chapters discuss how multilingualism can help the individual to become critically conscious and to develop an in-depth understanding of the world, while also benefiting society as whole. Understanding 'public space' in broad terms, including domains such as education, online, and the linguistic landscape, this volume explores how multilingualism can empower people from a range of perspectives, including memorialisation, onomastics, direct action, linguistic rights, migration, and educational play.

Robert Blackwood is Professor of French Sociolinguistics at the University of Liverpool, UK. Deirdre A. Dunlevy is a Lecturer in Applied Linguistics at the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Introduction, Robert Blackwood (University of Liverpool, UK) and Deirdre Dunlevy (University of Edinburgh, UK) 1. Multilingual Inequality in Public Spaces: Towards an Inclusive Model of Linguistic Landscapes, Durk Gorter (University of the Basque Country, Spain) 2. Demarcating the Space for Multilingualism in Czechia: An Ethnic Majority's Ways to Restrict Others' Language Use, Marián Sloboda (Charles University, Prague, Czechia) 3. Empowering Multilingualism? Provisions for Place-names in Northern Ireland, Mícheál Ó Mainnín (Queen's University Belfast, UK) 4. The Transformative Power of Linguistic Mobility: Evidence from Italian Borderscapes, Stefania Tufi (University of Liverpool, UK) 5. Invisible Presence?: Polish in Norwegian Public Space, Toril Opsahl (University of Oslo, Norway) 6. Place-names and the Complexity of Language Recognition in Northern Ireland, Deirdre Dunlevy (University of Edinburgh, UK) 7. Post-colonial Re-memorization in the Public Space: A Patrice Lumumba Square in Brussels, Luk Van Mensel (University in Namur, Belgium) 8. Linguistic Landscape Activism as a Means of Community Empowerment: Direct Action, Ai'Ta and Breton in France, Robert Blackwood (University of Liverpool, UK) 9. Multilingualism in the Model Multicultural City: The Influence of Authors in Leicester's Golden Mile, Michelle Harrison (University of Leicester, UK) 10. Empowering Speakers of Less Prestigious Varieties in Formal Education: Greek Cypriot Dialect in Preschool Education in Cyprus, Andry Sophocleous (University in Nicosia, Cyprus) Conclusion, Robert Blackwood (University of Liverpool, UK) and Deirdre Dunlevy (University of Edinburgh, UK) Index