Articles

Somali refugees and their urban and non-urban linguistic landscapes

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Abstract

This study examines the linguistic landscapes found in two related spaces—one urban and one non-urban—for Somali refugees in the Upper Midwest of the United States. It employs the Ethnographic Linguistic Landscape Analysis proposed by Blommaert and Maly (2014) for understanding the relationships and practices of multilingual communities. The analysis shows that Somali identities and networks are maintained in refugee communities in similar ways in urban and non-urban spaces. Importantly, this study incorporates a discussion of a non-urban linguistic landscape that became multilingual with the arrival of refugees. Examining non-indigenous communities and their relationship with majority culture in shaping the linguistic landscape comes forward as a promising area of future research.

Keywords: non-urban, urban, linguistic landscape, refugees, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Somali

How to Cite:

Brown, J., (2019) “Somali refugees and their urban and non-urban linguistic landscapes”, Critical Multilingualism Studies 7(3), 77–92.