This study examines the Linguistic Landscape (LL) of two streets in Beirut
(Foch and Weygand) following a series of protests in October 2019 against
the Lebanese government. We analyzed signs of protest on those two streets
collected in 2020 and compared them to archival data collected back in 2015
prior to the commencement of the protests. We drew upon an expanding LL
literature of contestation and resistance and theoretically framed our study
in concepts of reclaiming public spaces through protest signs (Martín Rojo,
2014a). Photographic data was collected and analyzed based on a critical
discourse historiographical approach (Flowerdew, 2017). Implications with
regard to Beirut’s changing identity and conflicting discourses of protest,
hope, and censorship competing for space on its streets are presented. The
study also presents asynchronous narrative layering as an approach that
addresses historical and cultural dimensions and power structures that
underlie the narratives that shape protest movements.
Karam, F.J., Kibler, A.K., Warren, A.N., and Shweiry, Z.
