Itineraries of protest signage : Semiotic landscape and the mythologizing of the Hong Kong Umbrella...
Semiotic landscape and the mythologizing of the Hong Kong Umbrella Movement

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>The pro-democracy occupation of three commercial and retail areas in Hong Kong that lasted over two months in the fall of 2014 – known as the Umbrella Movement – created a myth of Utopia (<jats:xref>Barthes 1984 [1954]</jats:xref>). In this paper, we track the itineraries (<jats:xref>Scollon 2008</jats:xref>) and resemiotizations (<jats:xref>Iedema 2003</jats:xref>) of the protest signage to show how they mythologized the Movement by “branding space”, “regulating and disciplining actions”, and “unifying the voice of protest”. We argue that the semiotic processes and effects involved in the emplacement and widespread distribution of the protest signage were not only key in the mobilization during the Movement but also the emergence and reinforcement of a “new” Hongkonger identity in the long run.</jats:p>