Communications in the urban space of border regions as a seismometer of security and threat levels
Anna Hanus
Uniwersytet w Rzeszowiehttps://orcid.org/0000-0001-5850-2511
Agnieszka Mac
Uniwersytet w Rzeszowiehttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-2670-6656
Abstract
Border regions constitute specific discourse spaces. It is here that discourses emerge with
particular intensity, negotiating socially significant meanings of key concepts. Against
the backdrop of the contemporary geopolitical situation – marked by armed conflicts,
migration, and growing feelings of uncertainty – it can be assumed that these spaces
become sites of especially dense semiotic activity related to issues of security and threat.
This article aims to examine how different semiotic modes – language, image, symbolism,
and colour – interact to reveal current social attitudes and collective moods in the studied
contexts, using a discourse-semiotic approach. The focus is on urban artefacts from
Rzeszów, Chemnitz and Saarbrücken, cities that vary in their proximity to geopolitically
unstable regions of Europe. The key question is how discourse actors construct a sense
of belonging, security, and threat through visual and linguistic framing. Preliminary
findings suggest that geographic proximity to unrest-affected areas does not directly
determine how security and threat are discursively profiled; instead, this process is
primarily shaped by cultural and media practices.
Keywords:
discourse linguistics, discursive profiling, semiotics, linguistic landscape, public discourseReferences
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