Gubitosi, Patricia
University of Massachusetts Amherst 
She is a Professor of Hispanic Linguistics in the Department of Languages, Literature, and Culture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in sociolinguistics, languages in contact, and Spanish dialectology. She is a co-editor of the book “Linguistic Landscape in the Spanish-speaking world” (2021) published by John Benjamins (together with Michelle Ramos Pellicia), and “El español en la red” (2017) published by Iberoamericana (together with Mabel Giammatteo and Alejandro Parini). Dr. Gubitosi’s work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Diaspora Studies, Journal of Language Awareness, Language and Dialogue, Critical Inquiries in Language Studies, and Cuadernos de Lingüística Hispánica, among others, as well as contributions to various collective volumes.
Lecture
Discovering the Voice of Those Without a Voice: Linguistic Landscapes in the Hispanic World
Public space is not a space that is neutral or indifferent to the people who inhabit it. The interpretation of public space involves knowledge of a set of rules and codes and, at the same time, a deep understanding of how these rules are implemented. For this reason, the linguistic landscape is an ideal tool that allows scholars to understand the complex and dynamic reality expressed by the messages that are displayed in it. This volume includes papers that follow different methodologies and analyze the messages displayed in the common space, either focusing on the semiotic features that accompany the linguistic, or emphasizing the commercial use of language. In this presentation we will discuss relevant examples stated in the book that demonstrate how speakers of minority varieties struggle to express themselves on equal terms. At the same time it is a call for the need for new studies that reflect how minority groups demand to be seen and refuse to be silenced, marginalized and eventually discarded.