The role of language in place branding during the Covid-19 pandemic and post-lockdowns
An introduction
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/sols.23528Keywords:
place branding, nation branding, Covid-19, pandemic branding, semiotics, rebranding, populism, biopolitics, nation building, morality, resistance, entextualization, chronotope, govermentality, uptake, healing, tourismAbstract
The articles in this issue examine the transformations and adaptations of place branding during the Covid-19 pandemic and post-lockdowns. Using five case studies, they examine how Covid-19 has changed place branding in Italy, Brazil, Japan, the Philippines, and France during different stages of the pandemic. The articles explore questions concerning how to (re)brand a global viral hotspot; the interplay of Covid-19, place branding and tourism; populism, nation (re)building and Covid-19 management; as well as the political nature and impact of place branding such as nation-building and nationalism during the Covid-19 pandemic and in a post-lockdown world. The articles examine place branding as semiotics with respect to how campaigns are entextualized and re-contextualized. They focus on tropes such as morality, fun, (lack of) mobility, and the future/time. Overall, this issue argues that Covid-19 is an event for place branding and that new tropes are likely to continue to emerge and endure.
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