The linguistic landscape as construct of the public space: a case study of post-apartheid rural South Africa

English: The linguistic landscape (LL), comprised of items displaying written language in the public space, is the product of linguistic choices that are executed by a myriad of actors who are guided by numerous pragmatic or symbolic motivations. Written language in the public space has unique semiotic properties that extend beyond its communicative function. It indexes power relations and identities, and, as such, is utilised to impose or negotiate these. The LL is thus a symbolic construct finding itself in a continuous dialectic with society. This dialectic is especially interesting in a society undergoing socio-political transformation, since revised language policies and ideologies are at play. While the changes influence choices made in the LL, the LL simultaneously serves to index change. In the South African context, the shift from apartheid to democracy in 1994 heralded a new language regime. The high level of societal multilingualism in the country is now supported on an official level. The present study asks questions about the nature of the LL constructed in post-apartheid South Africa. Since peripheral LLs are generally neglected in LL research, this investigation aims to address the gap by conducting an empirical case study of the linguistic profile of a rural area in South Africa. LL research focuses on the patterns of language choice in the public space. However, the field has not yet developed a coherent methodological and theoretical framework that allows for an extensive yet systematic exploration of LL patterns. Therefore, the present study proposes a model based on concepts from the field of language policy and planning (LPP). Based on the premise that the validity of communicative actions is determined by space (as context), a model of LPP space is developed. This LPP space is constituted by a physical and a semiotic aspect. The latter is further divided into three centres, namely the regulatory, the legitimising and the implementational. These four facets of the LPP space each adhere to an internal logic, but they are interactive and compete for dominance. The prevailing LPP facet governs the rules for valid communicative actions that require or prohibit the use of certain linguistic competencies. Based on which competencies are allowed, the multilingual capacities of actors are rendered either valid or invalid. The LPP space model is applied to the LL by determining the spatio-temporal characteristics of the research site (physical aspect), analysing official directives regarding the LL (regulatory centre), exploring language attitudes in the community (legitimising centre), and documenting the language choices executed in the LL (implementational centre). How multilingualism is evaluated by each LPP facet is also considered. The implementational centre is explored by means of a complete LL survey of the nine towns in the Kopanong Local Municipality in the southern Free State province of South Africa. The dataset, comprising 5,773 signs, was compiled between 20 May 2008 and 18 August 2010. Given the extensiveness of the data, several methodological advances are developed in order to systematically codify and analyse the dataset. The combined qualitative/quantitative approach allows thorough cross-referencing of the results, where patterns of language choice are compared to the three LL variables (locality, agency and functionality) as well as the other LPP facets. For this specific context, the study concludes that all facets of the LPP space place the onus to enact multilingual competencies on the LL actors themselves. The LL resulting from their choices is constituted by a high volume of monolingual signage. In addition, English dominates at the expense of African language visibility, and, to a lesser degree, Afrikaans. However, this outcome is considered the result of lacking critical awareness about the LL rather than a negative evaluation of a multilingual LL.