scholarly journals Bringing metaphors back to the streets: a corpus-based study for the identification and interpretation of rhetorical figures in street art

2019 ◽  
pp. 147035721987753 ◽  
Author(s):  
Georgios Stampoulidis ◽  
Marianna Bolognesi
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
Street Art ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Rhetorical Figures ◽  
Cultural Medium ◽  
Semiotic Systems ◽  
Quantitative Analyses ◽  
The City

Research on (verbo-)pictorial metaphors and other rhetorical figures is primarily focused on the genre of advertising, leaving other genres under-investigated. In this study, the authors focus on street art, a visually perceived cross-cultural medium used to address sociopolitical issues. This genre typically combines two interacting semiotic systems – language and depiction – and is thus a form of polysemiotic communication. Their analysis is based on a corpus of 50 street artworks addressing the financial, sociopolitical and migrant/refugee crisis in the city of Athens (2015–2017). They present a data-driven procedure for the identification and interpretation of metaphors and other rhetorical figures in street art, informed by cognitive linguistic and semiotic models. Quantitative analyses show that their models can be reliably applied to street art and can enable them to distinguish metaphors from other rhetorical figures within these images. At the same time, qualitative analyses show that this genre usually requires the integration of conceptual, contextual, socio-cultural and linguistic knowledge in order to achieve successful interpretation of these images. The authors discuss their findings within the theoretical framework of cognitive semiotics.

scholarly journals Enhancing Urban Encounters: The Transformative Powers of Creative Integration Initiatives

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 44-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anniken Førde
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Positive Potential ◽  
Private Companies ◽  
The North ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The City

Sustainable cites require the capacity to live with difference. In a world of increased mobility and migration, our cities become more and more diversified. While national discourses on diversity are often problem-focused, social initiatives are emerging in diverse cities addressing the positive potential of the city as a cross-cultural meeting place. In Norway, such initiatives have increased in number since “the refugee crisis” in 2015, and we see creative approaches arising from civil society, the voluntary sector, private companies, and local governments aiming to facilitate encounters with difference. This article explores innovative integration initiatives in cities in the north, emphasizing how difference might be negotiated, engendering new forms of engagement and responsibility. Cities are seen as sites of experiments, where new relations across difference are developed. Framing encounters as emergent, transitory, fragile, yet hopeful, we discuss the transformative powers of such initiatives for planning in diverse cities.

scholarly journals Out of the loop? On the radical and the routine in urban big data

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110140
Author(s):  
Sarah Barns
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Big Data ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Urban Systems ◽  
Out Of The Loop ◽  
Urban Futures ◽  
Urban Behaviour ◽  
The City

This commentary interrogates what it means for routine urban behaviours to now be replicating themselves computationally. The emergence of autonomous or artificial intelligence points to the powerful role of big data in the city, as increasingly powerful computational models are now capable of replicating and reproducing existing spatial patterns and activities. I discuss these emergent urban systems of learned or trained intelligence as being at once radical and routine. Just as the material and behavioural conditions that give rise to urban big data demand attention, so do the generative design principles of data-driven models of urban behaviour, as they are increasingly put to use in the production of replicable, autonomous urban futures.

Queering Bratislava: On Borders, Otherness and Public Space

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myrto Tsilimpounidi
Keyword(s):  
Queer Theory ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Academic Discourse ◽  
Street Art ◽  
Visual Sociology ◽  
Urban Fabric ◽  
Urban Theory ◽  
Visual Material ◽  
The City

This paper follows the multiple layers of an urban fabric that is stereotypically characterised as ‘post-socialist’, yet in essence, it is subject to ongoing transitions – much like the notion of being queer. What can we learn from queer theory in relation to post-socialist urban theory? What are the methodological advancements that derive from a queer approach to research? In this light, the presentation breaks the usually logocentric academic discourse as it engages with the premises of visual sociology. Using visual material from Bratislava focusing on urban inscriptions (street art, urban interventions), it opens up a discussion about the changes in the city and the struggles of different groups.

scholarly journals Aspects of Ergonyms Perception and Understanding in Cross-Cultural Communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 110-125
Author(s):  
Elena V. Kharchenko ◽  
◽  
Shu Man ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Native Speakers ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Main Function ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
Multicultural Environment ◽  
Proper Name ◽  
Great Relevance ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
The City

The article describes aspects of perception and understanding of Russian ergonyms by native speakers of Russian and Chinese. The issue under study is of great relevance due to the increase in cross-cultural contacts, the tendency for the free travelling between the countries and the formation of a multicultural environment in cities. The modern metropolis is increasingly becoming a place of residence for representatives of different linguistic cultures, so we decided to check how successfully modern ergonyms perform their main function, i.e. help residents and guests of the city navigate in space. The aim of the study is to identify the universal and specific features in the perception and understanding of ergonyms by the representatives of different linguistic cultures. The study object is the perception and understanding of a proper name, with the subject being the strategies of ergonyms perception and understanding. The article describes a survey of Russian and Chinese students who were asked to determine the organization’s field of activity by its name. The experiment consisted of two stages: at the first stage, only a word was presented, while at the second one - the word and the photo of the sign. As a result, the main ways of identifying ergonyms were identified.

scholarly journals THE ARCHITECTS OF MARBURG INTERCULTURAL COMMUNICATIVE SPACE

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Л.Н. Панько
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Cultural Communication ◽  
Cross Cultural Communication ◽  
80Th Anniversary ◽  
City Space ◽  
The City ◽  
Communicative Space

Статья приурочена к 80-летию русиста, доктора филологии госпожи Барбары Кархофф. Описана практическая деятельность русистов Б. Кархофф и В. Люккеля, направленная на формирование среды межкультурного пространства Марбурга. Отмечены принципы организации межкультурной коммуникации с опорой на прецедентные имена ученых и деятелей культуры. Выявлены особенности деятельности русистов в создании особых знаков городского пространства, используемых при обучении РКИ. The article is devoted to the 80th anniversary of Barbara Karhoff, professor of Russian studies. The practical activities of the Russists B. Karhoff and V. Lykkel, aimed at forming the environment of the intercultural space of Marburg, are described. Some principles of cross-cultural communication organizing based on the names of researchers and artists are mentioned. Some particular features of the professors’ activity that has created specific signs of the city space used in teaching Russian for foreigners are identified.

scholarly journals Possibilities to Apply the Urban Acupuncture Concept in Kaunas: Social Aspect

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 18-27
Author(s):  
Aurelija Daugelaite ◽  
Indre Gražulevičiūte-Vileniške ◽  
Mantas Landauskas
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Art ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Street Art ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Ecological Design ◽  
Social Aspect ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The City

The concept of urban acupuncture, which has been gaining ground in recent decades, is based on the activation and revitalization of urban environments using small architectural or landscape architectural interventions in precise carefully selected locations of urban fabric. However, the rapid and unexpected design solutions of urban acupuncture, based on ecological design, nature dynamics, street art, material re-use, can cause different social and psychological reactions of urban population and these reactions may vary depending on cultural contexts. Consequently, in order to implement successful urban acupuncture projects in Lithuanian cities, it is very important to find out public opinion and priorities in the fields of public space management, aesthetics, and public art. The aim of the research was to analyze the opinion of Kaunas city residents regarding these issues. For this purpose, a sociological questionnaire survey was used. The questionnaire containing 20 questions was designed, with the aim to find out the trends of use of public spaces in the city, the attitudes of residents towards street art and other small-scale initiatives in public spaces implemented in the recent years, possibilities of creating landscape architecture based on ecological ideas in urban environment, the attitude of inhabitants towards community spaces and community space design in the city, etc. 100 residents of Kaunas participated in this online administered survey. The survey has demonstrated general positive attitude towards contemporary design trends of public spaces and public art; however, the surveyed population expressed preferences towards fully equipped public spaces offering possibilities for a wide range of activities.

scholarly journals English for European Communication and Tourism: Focus on Pragmatic Competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-332
Author(s):  
Agata Klimczak-Pawlak
Keyword(s):  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Data Driven ◽  
Pragmatic Competence ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cultural Perspective ◽  
Language Background ◽  
Actual Usage ◽  
Successful Communication ◽  
Data Driven Approach

Pragmatic competence in L2 English is claimed here to be crucial for successful communication in a variety of communicative contexts across Europe. However, due to language background, cultural and identity differences among users of English, there is a need for reflection and data-driven examination of how the language is used in specific situations. This paper adopts a cross-cultural perspective on the study of the use of English in the European Union with focus on its role in tourism. The role of English as the language of communication in Europe is discussed, followed by a proposal as to the way in which its actual usage can be studied. The data-driven approach to pragmatic behavior is advocated as the basis for the development of pragmatic competence in learners of English with focus on those who wish to engage in tourism.

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