Signifying Place The Semiotic Realisation of Place in Irish Product Marketing

Through a socio-semiotic analysis of promotional materials used by both producers of quality products and their support organizations, this book investigates the use of imagery, especially images of place, in three contrasting regions of Ireland. It highlights the role of place (particularly rural) imagery in the promotion of handcrafts and rural tourism services, and suggests some of the meanings which may be contacted through the use of such imagery. Much of the research to date in this field has concentrated on the use of imagery to promote particular places, rather than products and, in an Irish context, on the promotion of Ireland as a tourism destination. This book focuses on the regional and local level to examine the creation and use of more micro-place specific images - both real and mythical - by small and medium sized businesses and explores the extent to which the two industries borrow from, and feed into, firstly each other, and secondly, macro place myths and iconographies.

Contents: Introduction; Semiotics and other methodological issues; Media content analyzed; Ways of Seeing countrysides, landscapes and rurality; Symbolic meanings of place and constructing the Gaze ; The adaptation and use of existing images in place promotion; The role of place in the production of Uniqueness ; The role of place myths in creating social spaces; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.