Geb. (‘Born’) in Berlin, Germany : a semiotic construction of German heritage in Canadian cemeteries

Abstract This paper is based on an analysis of heritage gravestones from three Canadian cemeteries that are not assigned to or used by any specific ethnic community in Waterloo Region, Ontario. Drawing on tools from semiotic landscape and historical sociolinguistics , the gravestones are analyzed for evidence of multilingual positioning through elements from German and/or (English-speaking) Canadian language and culture. This qualitative analysis reveals several ways of positioning, both linguistically and visually, that creatively make use of linguistic forms and images, often in ways that merge, rather than delineate, cultural elements. This gravestone analysis is complemented with a discourse analysis of current informational materials (e.g., walking tours, website) about these cemeteries, in which specific German Canadian aspects are instrumentalized as a form of commodification. Highlighting particular (socio-)historical aspects provides a current-day perspective that mediates how historical artifacts (including gravestones) are constructed in terms of their multilingualism and multiculturalism. Overall, this paper argues that a contextualized analysis of heritage gravestones which includes language(s), imagery and current-day constructions of sociohistorical community structures can shed light on the values and positionings at play in a historical heritage community. It contributes to historical sociolinguistics by correlating present-day interpretations with historical language data from gravestones and demonstrates in which ways current materials can add to and shape our understanding of the structure of historical societies.