Author(s)

Hangfei Zhao ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ Department of General Education, Tourism College of Zhejiang, Hangzhou, 311231, China

Corresponding Author

Hangfei Zhao

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the semiotic construction of linguistic landscapes (LL) in revolutionary tourism, using Hangzhou as a case study. Drawing on Peircean semiotics and the framework of tourist semiotic practice, it analyzes how signs in revolutionary heritage sites—such as monuments, relics, slogans, and commemorative plaques—function as cultural symbols shaping visitors' perceptions and identity. Data were collected from Trip.com, including photographs and English-language reviews posted by travelers at five representative revolutionary sites. Through multimodal analysis, the study identifies how iconic, indexical, and symbolic signs operate in digital and spatial contexts. Iconic signs evoke a sense of historical presence; indexical signs anchor perceptions of authenticity through material and locational references; and symbolic signs communicate ideological values and collective memory through shared cultural codes. Compared with general cultural tourism landscapes, revolutionary LL demonstrate higher symbolic density and stronger ideological framing. The research contributes to semiotic scholarship by linking online tourist interpretation with Peircean sign typologies, and offers practical insights for balancing ideological representation and intercultural accessibility in the design and communication of heritage sites.

KEYWORDS

Revolutionary Tourism; Linguistic Landscapes; Peircean Semiotics; Tourist Semiotic Practice; Cultural Symbols; Authenticity; Hangzhou

CITE THIS PAPER

Hangfei Zhao, Semotic Analysis of Linguistic Landscapes in Revolutionary Tourism: A Case Study in Hangzhou City. Lecture Notes on Language and Literature (2025) Vol. 8: 52-61. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/langl.2025.080508.

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