Multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious diversity: chronotopic affect in the semiotic landscape of Zhongshan Road, Quanzhou

Zhongshan Road in Quanzhou, a key site on the historical maritime silk road, embodies complex chronotopic affects—emotional responses shaped by multilingual, multicultural, and multi-religious diversity. The study reveals that globalisation-driven mobility of sociolinguistic resources leads to functional shifts across scales (e.g., from local to global, religious to mundane), creating layered time-space frames within a single site or even individual signs. These chronotopes evoke distinct affects like love and nostalgia, illustrating how historical and modern elements interweave in semiotic landscapes. The research employs ethnographic methods, including photographs, observation notes, and interviews, to analyze these dynamics.

Zhang, H., & Wu, S. (2025). Multilingual, multicultural and multi-religious diversity: chronotopic affect in the semiotic landscape of Zhongshan Road, Quanzhou. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 47(4), 2310–2330. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2025.2468775