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5.4: Language on the Landscape

  • Page ID
    240220
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    Sign for Wagon Wheel Restaurant Motel with a vintage-style illustration of a horse-drawn wagon. The word Entrance is written below. The signs are green and weathered. Trees and a roof visible.
    Figure 5-11: Oxnard, CA - Motel Sign. The sign above, once just off U.S. 101 made use of a font that conformed to the "western" theme used by the business to attract tourists.

    Spoken languages, like songs, jokes and other intangible elements of culture are mentifacts, and while they may be audible, they are largely invisible on the landscape. However, written elements of language are quite common on the landscape in the form of signs. Signs are artifacts. Because signs generally have words on them, they provide an easy and fascinating opportunity to practice reading the landscape. Be careful though, because the words on the landscape do not always “tell” the same story as the landscape in which they are found. Consider for example, a sign commonly found near the entrances to college or high school campuses that reads, “This is a drug free campus”. Do you believe that there are any college campuses completely free of drugs? Why do you think then, school administrators would place a sign like that on campus? Are they naïve? Are they making claims for political gain? Are they just trying to create a drug-free environment and believe that a sign will encourage students to abstain from using drugs? If you see a sign proclaiming something that is clearly false, or laughably untrue, and you realize that the location in which the sign is erected makes obvious the error or lie, then you are reading the landscape. As you drive around, note the names of apartment buildings in many large cities. Make a count of the references to exclusive locations (like Windsor Palace). Try reading the landscape of the house in the photo below.

    Not only are words inscribed on signs occasionally misleading, but often they don’t match the media or materials used in the sign. For example, a sign made of wood might be appropriate and effective for a restaurant specializing in Bar-B-Q ribs or cowboy boots, but would seem inappropriate and misleading for a store that sold laptop computers or high-definition televisions.

    A single-story house with a light exterior is surrounded by large trees. A for sale sign is visible on the lawn. The driveway is partially shaded.
    Figure 5-12: Bossier City, LA - The realty sign in the yard, notes “Good Neighbors”, which conflicts with another landscape message in the scene. See if you can spot the conflicting messages. (click photo to enlarge)

    This page titled 5.4: Language on the Landscape is shared under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Steven M. Graves via source content that was edited to the style and standards of the LibreTexts platform.