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Article published In:
Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 4:2 (2018) ► pp.128–152

Medical tourism and its niched impact in Tabriz, Iran

Opportunities and challenges for Iranian Azerbaijanis

| Nanyang Technological University

Tourism with all its concomitant economic and sociocultural influences across the globe accounts for today’s largest mobilization of people, money, and culture. This study explores how the arrival of medical tourists from the Republic of Azerbaijan in the city of Tabriz in Iran over the last few years has had a niched impact on the linguistic landscape of the city. Drawing upon theoretical developments within the sociolinguistics of globalization and mobility and linguistic landscapes, the research sheds light on how Azerbaijanis in Tabriz mobilize certain semiotic resources to both construct locality and channel mobility for their co-ethnic medical tourists, both establishing a sense of ‘at-homeness’ and attracting more travelers and economic gain. Given the legal prohibition of using foreign languages on public signage, the research also uncovers contesting language ideologies which may contribute to the development of a tension between Azerbaijani, as the largest minority language, and Farsi, the only official language, challenging the semiotic domination of Farsi over Azerbaijani.

Keywords: medical tourism, linguistic landscape, Azerbaijani, Tabriz, Farsi, Iran
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Azerbaijanis in Iran and their co-ethnics in the Republic of Azerbaijan
  • 3.Sociolinguistics of tourism and mobility
  • 4.Methodology
  • 5.Data analysis
    • 5.1Rules and regulations of advertisement
    • 5.2Medical tourism and linguistic landscapes
  • 6.Discussion and conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 27 August 2018
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.17032.mir
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