The commodification of authenticity and translanguaging against language policy in the multilingual landscape of a Malaysian Chinatown

In multilingual societies, languages can be used for various economic, political or cultural purposes. Malaysia is a multilingual, multicultural and multiethnic society, which significantly influences its Linguistic Landscape (LL). This study examines the LL of a Chinatown called Kuchai Lama in Kuala Lumpur, where the government enforces strict language policies regarding signage. 620 commercial signs are collected to explore how proprietors strategically deploy linguistic and other semiotic resources to circumvent language policies and construct culturally authentic and commercially appealing identities. The commodification of linguistic and cultural authenticity often takes the form of translanguaging which is a new theory of multilingualism. By observing the language combinations, language distance and multimodal semiotic resources, this study shows how translanguaging is strategically employed to attract target customers, project ethnic identities, highlight cultural authenticity and maximise economic value. This paper makes a unique contribution to LL study in Malaysia by demonstrating how translanguaging in the Chinatown’s signage serves as a strategic means of circumventing language policy with the purpose of enhancing commodification. It also advocates three perspectives on translanguaging and further pinpoints the diverse forms of commodification in relation to authenticity under the sociolinguistic conditions of a superdiverse society such as Malaysia.