Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities

The urban linguistic landscape is a dynamically developing object of study in linguistics, sociology, economics and marketing. Its texts are able not only to transmit information, but also to serve a decorative - or symbolic - function. The article examines five creative projects that place texts wi...

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Main Author: Oleg V. Shcherbakov
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University) 2025-07-01
Series:Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.rudn.ru/polylinguality/article/viewFile/45377/25187
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author Oleg V. Shcherbakov
author_facet Oleg V. Shcherbakov
author_sort Oleg V. Shcherbakov
collection DOAJ
description The urban linguistic landscape is a dynamically developing object of study in linguistics, sociology, economics and marketing. Its texts are able not only to transmit information, but also to serve a decorative - or symbolic - function. The article examines five creative projects that place texts with symbolic meanings in urban space. The author analyses the texts, identifying their possible functions and the reasons for the high social demand for such projects. Three functions are proposed for the texts in question: psychotherapeutic, marketing, and educational, while the marketing one is often implemented covertly. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of each project and concludes that their popularity among urban residents is linked to the high level of stress in the current socio-economic context and feeling of loneliness in large cities.
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publisher Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)
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series Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices
spelling doaj-art-8076108b856d42fba327db59fd49ca9f2025-08-20T03:23:27ZengPeoples’ Friendship University of Russia (RUDN University)Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices2618-897X2618-89882025-07-0122229030210.22363/2618-897X-2025-22-2-290-30221254Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian CitiesOleg V. Shcherbakov0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3539-7178Lomonosov Moscow State UniversityThe urban linguistic landscape is a dynamically developing object of study in linguistics, sociology, economics and marketing. Its texts are able not only to transmit information, but also to serve a decorative - or symbolic - function. The article examines five creative projects that place texts with symbolic meanings in urban space. The author analyses the texts, identifying their possible functions and the reasons for the high social demand for such projects. Three functions are proposed for the texts in question: psychotherapeutic, marketing, and educational, while the marketing one is often implemented covertly. The article provides a comprehensive analysis of each project and concludes that their popularity among urban residents is linked to the high level of stress in the current socio-economic context and feeling of loneliness in large cities.https://journals.rudn.ru/polylinguality/article/viewFile/45377/25187linguistic landscapeurban linguisticssociolinguisticssymbolic function of language
spellingShingle Oleg V. Shcherbakov
Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
Polylinguality and Transcultural Practices
linguistic landscape
urban linguistics
sociolinguistics
symbolic function of language
title Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
title_full Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
title_fullStr Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
title_full_unstemmed Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
title_short Street Art or Successful Commercial Projects? New Functions of the Symbolic Usage of Language in Linguistic Landscapes of Russian Cities
title_sort street art or successful commercial projects new functions of the symbolic usage of language in linguistic landscapes of russian cities
topic linguistic landscape
urban linguistics
sociolinguistics
symbolic function of language
url https://journals.rudn.ru/polylinguality/article/viewFile/45377/25187
work_keys_str_mv AT olegvshcherbakov streetartorsuccessfulcommercialprojectsnewfunctionsofthesymbolicusageoflanguageinlinguisticlandscapesofrussiancities