ABSTRACT
The previous chapter explored the social and semiotic function of landscapes for migrants involved in mapping a sense of connection and belonging in relation to place. This chapter shifts the focus more specifically to visible signs in public places that indicate or anticipate the presence of individuals from more than one language community. Whether viewed from a distance or in close proximity, these signs create an impression. They elicit some type of immediate response. In certain contexts, the public appearance of multilingual signs unavoidably interrupts prior assumptions of homogeneity, opening them to diverse interpretations or recontextualizations. Public signs have a social and interactional function; they ‘signify’ beyond the particular groups they reference. And like all signifiers there can be gaps between their intention and their interpretation. In some cases, particularly where there is insufficient understanding of what or whom they represent, their indexical or symbolic functions can easily be obscured.
