Exploring beyond convention transgressive practice in linguistic landscapes

Abstract

[eng] Transgression may be conceived as a social, deliberate and contextualised attempt to explore beyond convention. When it comes to language display, each of the systems that converge in a sign’s semiotic aggregate is susceptible of transgressing what is agreed or authorised in a community. This includes the violation of convention affecting the systems making up place semiotics, but it also reaches linguistic norm. The motivations underlying transgression range from the strictly aesthetic to the generation of identities or marketing. Eventually, this catalogue of motivations suggests that, beyond a questioning of the status-quo, transgression is a gateway to innovation through creativity.